


A Place Called Home

by Darandus548



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Gen, Good grief I hope I don't muck this up, Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-01-16 21:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 54,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21278165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darandus548/pseuds/Darandus548
Summary: A home is something she hasn't had for a long time. Though she knows she shouldn't, she can't help but hope to find a new one.





	1. Ch:1-1

**Author's Note:**

> I am by no means a professional writer, and that will show with these early parts as you see me finding my voice.  
Feel free to give constructive criticism and feedback on how I can improve. 
> 
> If nothing else, thanks for taking the time to read this and enjoy.

Blue skies as far as the eye could see.

The sun shone brilliantly in the morning sky; just another day for the world as a whole. Though if one from our own world were to look in on this one from the outside, he would find it to be very different from his own.

Immeasurable miles of clouds have replaced the oceans, though no one soul could recall when this happened. Continents no longer exist. Instead, mind-shatteringly massive titans traverse this ocean of clouds with a majesty nearly unmatched.

Were one to peer closer they would find, due in part to life's tenacity and doggedness to always find a way, animals inhabiting on these titans. Some of them familiar in shape, others almost alien when compared to our own. Yet all of them live within their own unique ecosystem as dictated by the titan they live upon.

Look a little longer and you'd also discover humans, hosting an array of races and features, coexisting with these titans and their inhabitants. Their settlements built on and even integrated into these titans as part of a complex but all too necessary relationship.

Somewhere in this world, a massive trading vessel floated lazily above the clouds with two massive balloon-like titans tethered to it. Traffic in and out of the vessel was constant, as ships constantly dock and undock. A majority of their passengers heading for the vessel's heart which hosted an extensive bazaar. Merchants of all shapes and sizes barter their wares there; the chatter and clinking of coin simply a part of the everyday noise to them and all that visit. It is for good reason that the denizens, as well as the vessel's constant visitors, affectionately called this place "Goldmouth", for the riches that seem to pass like water through its corridors.

Aboard this monument of trade, in a certain side room, a group of individuals waited. While most of them were silent, one, a girl with pointed cat-like ears and shoulder-length beige hair, let out a prolonged sigh of annoyance.

* * *

"Ugh… how long are they going to make us wait?" The girl drawled as she paced back and forth impatiently around the room. "It's already been like an hour," she grunted.

Another member of the group, a man with jet black hair styled into a faux hawk with black armor to match, cracked an eye from the sofa he'd comfortably sprawled himself. "Nia, if you've got that much energy to pace like that, how about you take a walk and leave it to the grown-ups here." He murmured lazily, rolling his neck with a series of cracks.

Nia narrowed her eyes. _You're one talk, _she thought._ Considering you have been hogging that sofa since we got here._

"My Lady." A familiar, deeper voice addressed her. Turning, she found Dromarch; a large white-furred tiger — her Blade and companion in life — eyeing her sympathetically. "Please don't mind Malos. You know he's just annoyed as you are." He consoled quietly.

She regarded the tiger's pleading expression with a bit of skepticism, briefly taking another glance at Malos, who returned an expectant expression. "Yeah, I guess..." She crossed her arms indignantly. "I just hate it when he calls me a kid is all." She let out a defeated sigh.

"Yes…He's a bit vulgar that one." Dromarch hummed, "In any case, my lady, I'd recommend you at least take a seat. All that pacing isn't helping your temper at all."

"Yeah yeah. Whatever." Nia halfheartedly scraped her feet towards the nearest chair, Dromarch following close behind, slouching a bit as she made herself comfortable.

* * *

Time passed at the same pace as a slug moving across the ground. Slowly.

Nia's eyes began to wander around the room, taking in its features with a certain amount of apathy. There were two doors to the room: a set of double doors around the corner leading to their employer's office, and a singular door leading out onto a sort of balcony overlooking the vessel's bustling bazaar.

Her gaze drifted again, passing over Malos who'd gone back to napping again, his hand placed over his eyes. She could hear a fair purring sound. Nia looked over to find Dromarch had taken up residence next to her chair, curling up into a warm ball on the ground.

She giggled a little. _"_I don't know how you do it big guy but," She began lightly dragging the back of her gloved hand over his head, tracing the intricate light gray lines marking his fur, "you make sleeping look easy."

* * *

Nia leaned back with a sigh. Without much thought or purpose to it, she dug a hand into the leather pouch she kept strapped to her waist. From it she raised a small oval-shaped bronze locket. With a click she opened the trinket revealing a small picture of a middle aged man and a young girl inside.

Staring at the pair's frozen smiles blankly, her thumb idly rubbed the locket's metal edge.

A quiet rustling from the nearby wall drew her attention and she quickly stuffed the locket back into her pouch. Looking up, she found a lone man with long spiked locks of messy white hair leaning on the wall, his features obscured behind a mask. He was dressed in grey armor, its design similar to that of an eastern culture lost to time.

_Jin…? When did he get here? _Nia briefly wondered.

The man noticed her looking and nodded. Despite her confusion, Nia couldn't help but smile a little. Jin's subtleties had always been something she'd appreciated.

There was a loud yawn from Malos as he stretched on the sofa once more, eventually cracking an eye open. It took him a moment to notice Jin, at which his eyes seemed to light up.

"Ah, Jin. I was worried you weren't going to make it." Malos proclaimed with a smile while composing himself.

Jin was quiet for a moment then spoke, his voice soft yet sharp. "I was talking to Sever back on the Monoceros."

Malos' smile faded. "Ah, him." He scratched the back of his head.

Jin pushed himself off the wall, crossing his arms. "He was concerned as to why you didn't take him along."

Malos clicked his tongue in annoyance and sighed. "I told you Jin. The guy has a knack for running his mouth when he shouldn't." He slowly rose from the couch, arching his back, letting off a series of audible pops. "That and-" The man cracked his knuckles satisfyingly. "I don't like him."

While Nia hadn't been with the group for very long — in fact this was to be her first job with them and it was a big one at that — she had noticed there was a distance between Sever, Malos' Blade, and Malos himself.

"Don't be hard on Sever, Malos." Jin cautioned.

Malos smirked. "And why should I, Jin?" his voice dangerous but playful.

"You know full well why," Jin stated, his expression remaining stoney.

Malos stared at Jin before showing off a toothy grin. "You're worried about me scaring off our salvager aren't you?" He attempted to goad a response from the stoic man.

Jin sighed, shaking his head.

There was a series of loud guffaws from Malos. "Alright, Jin. I get it." He put his hands out for effect. "I'll be good."

Grinning contently he took a seat back on the couch, whilst resting his feet on the coffee table in front of it. Jin let an audible "hmph" slip and took a chair for himself, crossing one leg while doing the same with his arms while he sat.

_They dropped it just like that? _She looked to Dromarch for input, to which she received a sheepish grin in response.

Nia shook her head tiredly. She truly didn't understand those two sometimes.

* * *

There was a click and the double doors opened. Through them came a woman wearing a scantily clad outfit adorned with various jewels and gemstones. Her facade, while on the surface simply portrayed a sultry seductress, was quickly dismissed by her prompt and professional expression, denoting a woman with a high degree of intelligence and skill. Carefully, she closed the doors behind her approached the group, and bowed. "Your salvager has arrived. If you'd please, follow me into the next room you may meet him." She gestured towards the double doors, her voice careful and respectful.

Malos let out a low whistle. "Who knew this Bana guy had an eye for talent and beauty." He said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, looking the woman up and down.

Nia couldn't help but notice the woman purse her lips slightly at his comment. _He really can't control himself can he?_

Bending over she gave Dromarch's head a small pat, waking him from his nap. "C'mon big guy. It's time." The tiger gave a short yawn and slowly got to his feet, giving his snowy pelt a short shake.

* * *

Eventually, the group assembled in front of the double door, Nia somehow finding herself at the front of the pack. It was not by her choice, as Malos had encouraged — actually, forced — her to go first and make a good first impression due to her unique look.

Now here she was, and aside from Dromarch giving her another sheepish look, she had no other recourse.

The woman stood next to the door as if waiting for something. From beyond the door, there was a deep but audible "Bring them in." As if a switch had suddenly been flicked, the woman threw open both doors and sauntered forwards into the main office.

Nia let out a small exhale and followed, feeling more than a bit anxious. _Alright, here we go._

* * *

Nia tried her best to appear as confident as possible, putting an extra swagger in her step, as she stepped into the oversized office. Her copper eyes took in its interior quickly spying their potential salvager who stood in the middle of the room.

Much to her surprise, she found not a man or woman, but instead a boy. Judging by the dumbfounded look on his face as he watched them file out before him, she figured him to be about fifteen or sixteen.

Maybe he's supposed to be a go-between or something? She wondered. There was no way they'd hire a kid…

It took a moment for the kid to wake up from his short-lived trance. "Wow… Drivers and Blades!" The kid exclaimed. "And they look so cool…"

_We look cool...?_ She couldn't help but glance down at her yellow jumpsuit for a moment before giving herself a small mental shake. _Whatever, it's just a kid being a kid._

As Jin took a step forward, the boy's mouth dropped a little as the man addressed him. "There's something that we need hauled up." At the mention of the word 'hauled' the boy's head tilted ever slightly. "There've been some shifts in the currents and it's showed up in an uncharted area."

"So what's the catch?" the boy asked, folding his arms.

Jin blinked. "... It's a long ways down."

The boy displayed a big grin. "I like a challenge."

There was a hoarse, throaty chuckle from the head of the room. From behind his already very large desk appeared an incredibly chunky green Nopon adorned in garish jewels of all types and sizes.

The Nopon's garish fashion immediately tipped the cat-eared girl off. This was their recruiter: Chairman Bana, leader of the Argentum Trade Guild.

The over sized furball leaned over the desk, his beady eyes taking in the group with amusement. "Crew was very picky in choosing team. Only wanted salvagers from Leftheria," he said, stroking his fuzzy lip. "That's when Bana had idea." He pointed to the boy. "Should hire Rex!"

Nia's jaw nearly dropped. They were ACTUALLY hiring a kid for this?!

The boy threw a knowing look to Nopon and flashed a big smile. "Heh heh heh. You made the right choice!"

Nia couldn't help herself anymore. "I'm sorry, but are we really hiring a kid here?" She turned to Jin and Malos. "This is a joke right? Don't tell me we're going to be hiring babysitters as well!"

The pair of them stared at her blankly before the boy rounded on her. "Hey lady, what's your deal? You look as much of a kid as I do!"

Nia turned back to the boy with a scowl. "And I'd assume, considering how much you are getting paid, you act with some more professionalism."

"Hey that's-"

Nia took a step forwards putting her hands on her hips. "ESPECIALLY when you're working in such a profession as-"

The boy suddenly stomped forwards. "Don't you dare-"

"Enough!" Dromarch announced as he stepped in between the feuding two before they could meet. The tiger eyed Nia with a disappointed look before turning to the boy. "Ahem- Rex was it?"

The boy tilted his head a little looking a little taken aback. "Er… yes?"

"Please, if you would excuse my lady's discourtesy." The tigers apologized, bowing his head.

Nia grit her teeth. "Dromarch, the kid obviously isn't qualified for-"

"Drop it, Nia." Malos interrupted. "Although, you're not wrong about him being a kid…"

"And?" Nia asked, worry welling up in her stomach.

Malos uncrossed his arms, an evil expression taking over his face. "Should be easy enough to check…"

"What do mea-"

Suddenly, Malos lunged forwards, bearing down on the boy with the tonfa he kept attached at his backside. Instead of a meaty thunk, he found himself only splitting open air and the boy standing a few inches away from his slice.

A small smile formed on his lips. Again he swung, cleaving only open air. His eyes followed Rex as he grabbed what looked like a makeshift metal sword from the wall.

Suddenly Rex rushed him, the sword gripped with both his hands. Malos held out his tonfa with one arm, easily blocking the kid's blow, their weapon's grinding shakily. He found himself observing the fiery look in the boy's golden eyes, the child's eyebrows creasing with exertion as he tried to overpower Malos' defense.

With ease, the larger man forced the boy backward. "What are you playin' at?!" The boy yelled, quickly finding his footing.

Meanwhile, Malos ended the scuffle, sheathing his weapon, contemplative.

"Malos, what the hell are you doing?! He's just a kid!" Nia yelled.

Malos turned to her with a smirk. "You said it yourself: 'what if he's not qualified?'"

"That's not-" her voice caught in her throat. "I didn't-" She felt her face begin to burn with a shade of pink.

"Oh, but you did, and now we know." He turned back to the boy. "You'll do alright, even if you don't look like a driver…" Malos rubbed his chin, "Where did you learn to move like that, boy?"

Rex still held his sword defensively, "Gramps taught me a thing or too…" His grip tightened. "Even when I was little, it was his idea of playtime."

Malos' lips curled back with amusement. "You've got skill that's for sure. Guts as well." He began walking to the door "Kid, you'd better work hard." waving a hand almost mockingly.

Nia watched as Malos and Jin walked out of the room, the tightness in her chest finally releasing with a silent exhale once they were gone. Suddenly aware that the boy was still looking at her, and still very wary, she composed herself, more than a little embarrassed, and shuffled her way out the door of the office with Dromarch in tow.


	2. Ch:1-2

Nia closed the door to Bana's office behind her, finding Jin and Malos waiting for her. Malos looked impatient, his arms crossed with a scowl on his face.

A squirming anger reared its ugly head within her. "Just what the hell is your problem?!" She growled, closing the distance between them.

"This again Nia?" Malos asked, amusement beginning to emanate off him.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Yeah, really. What is your deal?"

Malos smirked. "I was simply putting your little suggestions to practice."

"And that involved you nearly cutting the kid in half!?" She huffed.

"Listen here:" He leaned forward towering over her, "this sort of thing isn't anything new for us. You of all people should've known what you were getting into when we found—"

"That's enough." Jin interrupted, extending a hand between them.

Malos regarded his compatriot with a sidelong stare, "You sure Jin? I haven't even made my point yet—"

"Yes, I know." His voice sharpened. "And you've said enough."

Malos let out a prolonged exhale and shook his head tiredly. "Alright, fine. I get it." He began walking off. "I'll be on the Monoceros if you need me."

The three of them watched as he melded into the crowd below. It was a moment or two before Jin spoke again. "Nia."

At the the sound of his voice her head snapped to him, not sure if she was going to be scolded or not, noticing how the taller man's normally icy gaze looked a bit different from normal.

"Um... What is it Jin?" She managed.

"Easy, I just want you to walk with me is all."

Nia's cat-like ears perked and fluttered a little. "Oh- OH! Uhh..." She mumbled, holding each of her hands against her stomach, suddenly feeling embarrassed._ Why am I acting like some sort of little school girl?_

She and Jin hadn't ever really spoken to each other before— properly that was. The only times she'd spoken to him was when they'd first met, and even then that was—

"So is that a yes?" Jin asked, apparently noticing her reaction.

"OH! Er- yeah!" she recovered, giving herself a little shake. C'mon pull yourself together here!

Something resembling a smile seemed appeared on Jin's lips. "Good. Follow me." He turned and began walking off towards the steps leading down to the bazaar.

"O-oh ok!" She stammered, quickly moving to catch up with him.

As Nia shuffled after the white-haired man she couldn't help but notice Dromarch stayed behind and gave his best attempt at a grin, as if rooting for her.

_Gee furball, thanks for the encouragement here._ She returned his grin with a forced one of her own.

* * *

Nia followed behind the much taller man at a surprisingly brisk pace, as they passed up stall after stall of amenities. They'd been doing this for more than a few minutes, she swore they'd passed the same stall of perfumes four times now.

_Was this his idea of 'walking' with him?_ Her eyes began to knew Jin wasn't one to really talk all that much, and while he was a bit odd, she didn't expect to be—

Her stride was suddenly cut off as her face bumped into something in front of her.

Nia shook her head, rubbed her forehead wincing. "Ah- hey! Watch where—" She looked up to find Jin staring at her.

Her cheeks flushed. "Oh Jin! S-sorry, I wasn't really looking where I was going!"

"No, it's ok. I should've told you what I was looking for." He apologized.

"Huh?" Nia looked around and found that they'd stopped in front of a clothing stall. Behind the counter was a tired looking Gormotti man, immediately evident by the pair of cat-like ears perched on his head.

_He doesn't get many customers does he?_ She wondered, taking note of the stitches and tears in his shirt and the areas of patchwork spread across the overalls he wore.

Noticing their sudden interest in his apparel, the man sat up from his stool. "Oh! Were you two interested in buying something? The man asked excitedly.

Nia looked to Jin expectantly. _What would Jin need with clothes? He's already got his armor and all. That and this guy looks like he's just crawled out of the gutter…_

The taller man was silent for a moment seeming to perusing the shopkeeper's inventory before he pointed to a black shape near the back of the stall.

The merchant cocked a brow at Jin's request before turning and pulling the object out, setting it on the stall's counter for the both of them to see. Nia couldn't help but notice how the Gormotti man seemed to watch the two of them closely gauging their reactions.

On closer inspection Nia determined it be some kind cloak and watched as Jin picked it up by its collar and examined it, his eyes running up and down its exterior.

"It's 1600 Gold if you want it sir." The merchant announced warily.

"I'll take it." Jin said, reaching for the bag around his waist and handing it to the man.

The merchant pulled the string on the bag's end and opened it. He was quiet for a moment before making a sound that sounded somewhere between choking and inhaling. The man looked up, eyes seeming to bulge. "Sir, there's WAY more than 1600 here!" he asked worriedly, offering to give the bag of coins back.

"Keep it. You look like you need the money anyway." Jin said, waving him off and began to walk away.

Nia glanced back to the merchant, who looked as though he'd stumbled upon some buried treasure, before turning and running to catch up to Jin who'd already wrapped himself in the cloak.

* * *

The pair's pace decreased significantly. Nia had been secretly grateful for this as her interest in the stalls they passed only grew more and more enticing.

She found herself drawn to a particular stall that looked to be stocked with a variety of fabrics and sewing materials. _Maybe I COULD buy some of this stuff… I HAVE been meaning to make some more of those—_

"Do you want to buy something?" Jin asked stiffly, appearing at her side.

"Gah! Ah- Jin!" She spluttered, nearly falling over.

Taking a moment she caught her breath, and calmed herself. "I mean, I guess I was eyeing some of the sewing stuff..." She mumbled, bringing a contemplative finger to her lips.

Jin looked to the stall in question, his cold eyes passing over its amenities. "I didn't know you sewed." He asked with an unfamiliar amount of genuineness.

Nia suddenly found herself put on the spot. "Yeah it's um..." She faltered, "Uh, something I learned." Her thumbs twiddled nervously while she tried her best to avoid eye contact.

"Huh" He crossed his arms, leaning forwards. "Were you planning on buying something then?"

She jumped. "Oh, y-yeah!"

A bit apprehensive, she slowly approached the stall. Immediately, she spotted a small portable box, with a clam shell design, containing a set of pins and needles inside of it.

She spied the owner bent over organizing some boxes. She was a homely looking middle age woman with short curly dark brown hair and, much like the man they'd met before, a pair of cat-like ears adorning her head.

"Um, excuse me?" Nia asked, having stood at the stall's counter for a minute or so.

The woman looked up, and smiled sweetly, her eyes calm and kind. "Well hello there honey!" The gormotti woman greeted, walking up towards the counter. "What can I do for you today little lady?"

"Little?" Nia looked down at herself eliciting a laugh from the older woman.

"No! I mean you're cute is all!" The woman giggled.

She cocked an eyebrow at the older woman.

The stall owner immediately cleared her throat. "Ahem, sorry about that. I've got some youngsters of my own at home so I just can't help myself sometimes." She chuckled. "Anyways, what were you interested in?"

Nia pointed to the box of needles. "How much for that?"

The woman picked up said box and turned it over a few times in her hands examining it closely. "Mmm... Alright." She murmured, placing it back down on the counter. "It'll be 500."

Nia's ears fluttered a little at the price. "O-oh that's a bit pricey."

The woman nodded. "Yep, they're an import from the Ardanian titan. Metal is their specialty so these babies have been made from some of their finest quality metals." She held one of the needles in front of her own face. "Or at least that's what the guy who sold it to me said." The woman remarked, peering closer at the needle in her hand, before looking back to her. "So, are you gonna be able to afford it?"

Nia reached for the bag of coin around her waist, her fingers plucking out the coins inside and counting them as she went. _200... 300... 400..._ Her fingers continued to search but found only fabric sliding past her fingers. _Oh no…_

She shook the bag once then twice, with nothing but empty air answering. _Ah jeez…_

"What's wrong?" The woman asked, tilting her head slightly.

"I uh... I don't have enough." She replied sadly, quietly putting each coin back into the bag.

She was about to deposit a coin in when the woman clapped a hand on her bag. "Hold on. Maybe we can work something out."

Nia eyed the shop keep curiously. "How do you mean?"

"Just show me a smile."

"Huh?"

"Show me a smile and I'll let you have it for free."

"Just a smile?" Nia frowned.

The shop keep folded her arms and nodded. "M'yep"

"... Fine." _Not like I got much choice anyway._

While she was already somewhat apprehensive due to the woman's forwardness she couldn't help but accept a deal like that. I mean, who wouldn't want free stuff for a smile?

Slowly, Nia's lips stretched across her face, as she tried to give her best smile, the shop owner watching with interest. She held it for a few seconds, before she let it fall. "Was that good enough?" She asked tiredly.

The woman's eyes seemed to shine with affection. "It's like I thought..." she said, tapping a contemplative finger to her chin. "You have a very pretty smile."

Nia's eyebrows rose a few degrees. "I do?"

"Yes!" The shopkeep chirped, happily handing her the box. "With a smile like that I'm surprised the tall handsome guy you came with isn't already arm-in-arm with you already!"

"Wha! You don't mean—" Nia's ears burned intensely, quickly glancing back at Jin who still stood stoically a fair bit away. "N-no it's not like that!" She turned back, her cheeks tinged pink now.

"Oh." The woman paused, before a devious smile crept onto her face. "Well if he's single then send him my way! I'll set him up right quick!"

Nia began backing away. _I need to get away. NOW._

"No no. That's ok! Thank you for the needles!" She said, trying to block out whatever was being said to her as she widened the distance between them.

"Don't forget what I said about that smile now!" The woman called out, while resting her head on her hand and waving with the other.

_Yeah yeah just stop talking please. _She swore she could feel the woman's smile still shining like sun on the back of her head as she returned to Jin.

"Your face is a little red." He said, pointing. "Did something happen over there?"

"Nothing. She just said some embarrassing stuff is all..." Nia mumbled.

Jin studied her for a moment, his eyes falling to the small box in her hands. "What is that?"

"Oh these are just some sewing needles." Nia said, opening the box for him to see inside.

She watched as the white-haired man peered closer, noticing how a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. It took her a moment to realize, but she found her returning it in kind.

"Um... I can sew you something if you want." She asked without thinking.

Jin's eyes snapped from the box up to her suddenly, becoming wide behind his mask.

"I mean —" She verbally back-stepped a few times trying to recover. "IF you wanted to…"

Nia felt as though she'd a swallowed a rock, as she watched the white-haired man puzzle something out to himself. Unknowingly, she clutched the box closer to herself, her thumbs beginning to twiddle across the top of it.

Jin suddenly turned back to her, nearly causing her to jump.

"I… yes. That would be nice." He nodded, his voice slow but considerate. "Thank you Nia."

"Uh... yeah. Y-your welcome." She stammered, still unable to fully shake her previous feelings.

_I'm such an idiot._

* * *

The sun hung low in the sky casting long shadows through the doors and windows of the vessel. In particular, the bazaar was now painted in strokes of orange dimming light. The crowds of people the pair had weaved through before now seemed thin, and the hurried actions of those around them slackened.

An audible growl came from Nia's stomach. A_h, that's right I haven't eaten since this morning have I?_ She thought, briefly rubbing her stomach.

"Something wrong?" Jin asked.

"Ah. Um, I'm just hungry." She said, smiling sheepishly.

"Oh." He blinked and rubbed his own stomach experimentally. "I guess, I'm hungry as well."

He turned to her. "What did you have a taste for?"

"Jin I— We've been walking around all day," She gazed around them taking note of how all the stalls seemed to encircle them. "And you seem to know your way around here better. So why don't you pick?"

Jin seemed confused by her response, but still shrugged.

She watched the man look around, before focusing on something. He pointed in the direction of some unused stalls. "There, beyond the stalls."

"Huh…?" Nia squinted, noticing what looked like a small noodle shop nestled in the corner of the large vessel.

* * *

When the pair finally approached the secluded shop they found a person or two already seated at the counter while a small Nopon, dressed in a white cooking uniform with a small chef's hat on his head, busily worked at preparing a mass of long noodles.

Nia followed Jin's lead as they both approached.

Likely already more than experienced with dealings involving customers, the Nopon turned around while giving them a steely eyed look.

"Two for us." Jin asked casually, holding up two fingers.

The nopon gestured to a deposit slot near them on the counter. "Meh meh 240."

Jin nodded, reaching under his cloak, pulling out a few coins from another one of his bags.

Following a few audible clunks, the Nopon nodded solemnly and turned back to attend to the mass of noodles behind him, whilst pulling out a pair of bowls and stirring a pot of simmering soup with his prehensile ears. Nia found herself almost mesmerized by how precise the cook was with how he prepared his dishes.

"Are you going to sit?"

"Huh?" Nia turned to find Jin already seated. "Ah! Right!" A little flustered, she took a seat for herself, continuing to watch the nopon continue to work at the noodles and soup.

The two of them sat in silence as they waited for their food. Nia couldn't help but occasionally glance over in Jin's direction. "Um… hey Jin?" She finally spoke up, breaking the silence between them.

He turned to her, his expression indecipherable beneath the mask he wore. "I- um… I just want to thank you for today."

Jin continued to look at her.

"A- after all that stuff with the kid from earlier and Malos." She mumbled, preferring to stare at the wood countertop than the man next to her, her cheeks turning a very light shade of pink.

"I just—" She paused, trying to find her words. "Thank you, for everything, Jin."

The white-haired man remained quiet for a moment before nodding in acknowledgement. "It's alright." He was quiet for a moment, folding his hands together. "... I'm sorry if this has been a bit too much for you." He said, adjusting himself in the seat.

Nia looked up, a bit surprised at his sudden apology.

"Nia, if you want, I can cover for you." He pursed his lips. "If you don't want to be a part of this job anymore."

She was confused by Jin's question, did she seem unsure of herself? It was her first job after all, but that's how it was with anyone's first time at anything.

"I'm not helpless," Nia creased her brow slightly. "You know I can take care of myself" -she shifted a little- "that and I'll have you remember that I WANTED to do this job as well."

Jin smirked and opened his mouth to say something, before his back suddenly straightened itself, his mouth still being held agape.

"Jin?" Nia asked worriedly.

His mouth closed and wrenched itself into a grimace.

She reached a hand towards him. "Jin are you—"

"Oi! Oi!" A boisterous, yet worryingly familiar voice announced itself from behind them. Nia snapped her head in the voice's direction, her stomach nearly doing a flip.

It was Malos sporting that classic confident grin of his, and in tow he had with him a bipedal lizard-like creature with a crystal in its chest; a glum expression hung on its face.

_Malos!? What's he doing here?! And he even brought along Sever…_

"Finally found you two!" He grinned, approaching them.

Nia stood up, her earlier anger boiling back up with a vengeance. "What do you want Malos?" She growled.

"Whoa whoa! Calm down!" Malos assuaged, holding out his arms placatively. "Can't a guy worry about where his buddies are?"

"Last time I checked we weren't buddies." Nia crossed her arms. "And didn't you go stomping off to stay on the Maelstrom to angst or whatever it is that you do?"

Malos feigned a grinned. "Listen, Me and Mik were just wondering where you and Jin we're is all." He swung an arm around the Blade next to him jokingly, "Even brung my ol' pal Sever here along to help."

"I thought you hated Sever..." Nia grumbled unconvinced, catching the reptilian Blade eye the man next to him with a discriminatory glare.

"Hate is a strong word y'know?" Malos thumbed his nose. "Dislike? Now that's a lot more accurate." He grinned toothily at the Blade, his eyes narrowing just hair.

Nia noticed the Blade roll his eyes at the man's words. _Typical..._

She shook her head and relaxed her posture still maintaining the scowl on her face. "Still doesn't explain why it had to be YOU of all people to come looking for us."

The man shrugged his shoulders chuckling a little to himself. "A: I know Jin the best. Plus, I knew you wouldn't leave his side unless he asked you to."

Nia's eye twitched a little. _What the hell is that supposed to even mean._

"And B: -which you, me, and everyone else knows already- Mik can have a work ethic like that of a snail when Patroka isn't around."

Nia crossed her arms skeptically. He wasn't exactly wrong, Mikhail DID like to slack off occasionally, at least when he wasn't showing off for Patroka.

"Well you found us, congratulations." She grumbled, "Now what?"

"I had something I wanted to discuss with Jin and— " Malos tilted his head and squinted, looking past her. "What's wrong with Jin? Did he start drinking and not tell me?"

"Huh?" Nia turned towards the man in question, and her stomach followed up and completed its previous near flip with a somersault; finding him now slumped across the counter. Her eyes widened in panic. "Jin?" She reached a hand towards his shoulder.

The moment she touched him, her entire hand flared with pain like it was being stung by a thousand sharp needles. She squealed in agony and stumbled backwards, tripping over a stool. For a moment she expected to hit hard floor, instead, she found her fall broken by a pair of arms. Looking up, she was met with the reptilian face of Sever.

"Th-thanks…" She managed. The reptile grunted an acknowledgement, and helped her to her feet while she flexed her hand experimentally, it still tingling sensitively.

Nia noticed that Malos was now next to Jin. "Dammit… Why now…?" She heard the man mutter under his breath.

"Malos what's—" She tried to ask. He turned to her, his joking demeanor and mocking grin replaced with stiff silence and a frown. "How long has he been like this?" He asked, his voice low.

"W-what do you mean?" She shot back, her voice a mix of anxiety and fear not only for herself but also Jin.

His expression darkened and jaw stiffened. "I mean how long have you let him LAY HERE."

Malos' voice was like a knife being swung in front of her face. "I- I don't know. One moment, he was fine, and then you show up and he's like this!" She explained, struggling to maintain her strong front.

The taller dark-haired man suddenly narrowed his eyes at her, and began to stomp towards her.

"Malos— "

She didn't even have time to react as he backhanded her across the side of her face, her cheek burning with snaps of pain as she was knocked to the ground.

Nia sat stunned, not entirely sure as to what had just happened. A pair of armored feet stepped in front of her, she followed them upward finding Malos' smoldering gaze at the top, boring holes into her wide-eyed own. He stared at her for another moment or so, before he let out a short puff of air and shook his head, walking back toward where Jin still lay slumped over the counter.

Nia silently watched him wrap Jin in his cloak, the piece of clothing thankfully shielding him from anymore prying eyes, and picked him up, hoisting the man's limp body over his shoulder.

Sever knelt down at her side, "Are you ok?" The reptilian Blade asked, his voice gravelly but concerned.

Nia blinked, she briefly glanced towards the Blade and did her best to nod convincingly, bits of moisture starting to form at the corners of her eyes. By now a small crowd had formed around the lot of them likely drawn by the commotion caused by them.

The Blade observed her for a moment, then looked to the crowd behind them, before shaking his head and standing up.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Malos walk past them. Suddenly, he turned to her, "I'm taking him back," he growled, "I don't want to see you for the rest of the night." jabbing a finger in her direction.

Sever gave her one last glance and joined in pace with his Driver, leaving Nia to watch them walk away, seeming to part the crowd of people with their very presence, and walk through until they were finally obscured.

* * *

Nia tried her best to control her breathing as her face burned with a mixture of frustration, anger, and embarrassment. She slowly picked herself up from the wooden floor and brushed off the dust from her outfit and sniffed, trying her best to keep her face hidden.

Putting on the best smile she could muster, she thanked the Nopon chef for the noodles and apologized for causing a scene. The Nopon tried to ask her if she was alright, but she'd already walked away.

She didn't want to bother the Nopon with her problems, not when she'd already caused a scene. Right now she needed to get away from there, find a place where no one could see her, where she could be alone.

Nia turned, finding the crowd of onlookers to still be present. She could feel their eyes focused on her, trying to puzzle her out. She stiffened her jaw._ I'm going to have to go through them aren't I?_

The Gormotti girl sighed, and walk forwards in to it.

Whispers surrounded her like a massive suffocating blanket as she pushed her way through.

"Poor thing…"

"Why did he hit her? It looked like they knew each other..."

"Wasn't that girl just talking to Lily earlier?"

"What's with that outfit?"

Her fists clenched and began to shake. She wanted to sock each and everyone of them in the face, if only to shut them all the HELL up.

After what felt like an eternity she finally emerged and pushed through to the other side. With everyone's eyes trying their best to burn a hole through the back of her head she kept going, unsure of where exactly.

* * *

Eventually, she found herself huddled in between a collection of wooden crates. The dimness, afforded her a nice spot from which she could look out but not be noticed so easily by those walking past.

The girl let her front fall as her lips began to quiver and her breathing hitched. Silent tears formed in the corners of her eyes, followed by a watery sniffle. It pissed her off. All of it: Malos, these damn people, the freaking job, and especially herself.

For once why couldn't she stand up for herself?! It's not like she had done anything _WRONG_!? Right?!

Nia wiped away the tears blurring her vision, suddenly having the urge to kick one of the boxes with all her strength. She briefly considered it before sighing, shrugging it off. _Don't do that stupid, you'll only get yourself crushed._

She sniffed again, and instead slammed the side of her fist against the box beside her. The box's produced a dull thud sound as she hit it, the contents inside rattling slightly.

Nia held her forehead and massaged it slowly, her puffy eyes blinking out more tears as she sniffled again.

"Hey um…" a voice asked.

Nia's head snapped in it's direction, her tear stained eyes going wide. She could make his face as the lights shadowed his features, though she could tell it was boy. Maybe a teenager?

"Whoa, easy! I— " The boy said, peeking his head in a little further.

"Leave. Me. Alone." She warned, scooting as far back as she could.

The boy tilted his head. "Listen, I don't want any trouble. You're that girl: Nia, right?"

Nia paused for a moment; The boy somehow knew her name. Did she know him? What did he want? "Who are you? How do you know my name?" She asked cautiously, taking careful measure to speak slower and calmer this time.

The boy appeared to scratch the back of his head, "Um uh... " He trailed.

"Answer my question." Nia asked forwardly.

He seemed to open his mouth before quickly shutting it. "Alright." Nodding, he backed up a little as the the shadow over his face was illuminated by the light.

Nia's stomach dropped. _Of all the people to..._

"I was wondering if you'd let me buy dinner for you?" He asked genuinely.

"What?" Nia was caught off guard by his question. "Dinner—" She was interrupted by an audible rumble from her stomach.


	3. Ch:1-3

It had been nearly ten minutes since the boy had left to fetch the aforementioned dinner he'd offered to buy her. There were still a number of people still walking around despite it being so late in the day. _Do people ever sleep around here?_

She sighed, almost amused by the whole situation. First, she nearly got into a fist fight with the kid, then the next he's offering to bring her food and acting like a saint. Nia shook her head, _I swear this was all pre-planned or something. Someone HAS to be laughing their ass off out there._

As if he'd timed it perfectly she spotted the boy in question now returning with what looked like a plate, bowl, and a glass of water juggled in his hand while a small smile from him accompanied it all. He stopped short of entering her little makeshift corner, still illuminated by the various lights around the vessel.

"Sorry that took so long!" He apologized, wobbling slightly, as he balanced all the dishes in his arms. "Usually, they don't allow customers to take food and dishes outside of the establishment, for obvious reasons." He carefully placed the dishes in his hands down on a nearby waist high box, sighing satisfiedly when he'd finished. "Thankfully the dinner rush had already passed so I was able to get some free time with Rumtumtum -the chef- to convince him otherwise."

He turned to her, "Anyway, I can't imagine it's very comfortable or clean to be eating in the dark there, do you want to find a place to sit?" he asked questioningly.

"There's fine." Nia grumbled pointing at a the box he'd just placed the food onto.

The boy frowned. "Ah… Are you sure? I know how dusty and grimy boxes can get and—"

"There's just fine." She repeated sharply, glaring at him as she trudging out from the shadows.

"Oh... ok then," the boy said, looking a bit hurt as she passed by him.

Nia meanwhile shuffled up to the box in question to examine what he'd brought her.

"Hey uh…"

She turned on him.

The boy jumped a little. "O-oh uh… Nothing."

"If you're going to say something then say it, kid." She grumbled.

He paused, and shook his head. "It's nothing— Anyway, you didn't give me much to work with so I just ordered a juicy samod— descaled and cooked of course, and some lightly fried rice." He explained, leaning against one of the crates.

True to his word there was a nicely cooked fish on the plate, its head already had been chopped clean off, and its flesh browned. She couldn't help notice the enticing smell wafting off of it.

It was too perfect, the food, the timing. Heck, they'd nearly gotten to fists with each other earlier. Yet here he was now doing all of this.

She didn't buy it for a moment, he was trying to get something out of her.

"What's your game here?" She asked, leering at him.

"Game? What game?" The boy said, looking confused.

Nia's eye twitched. "Your goal. What do you want from me?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "What do I- uh, nothing?"

"Don't lie to me!" She hissed harshly, nearly slamming one of the boxes next to her with a balled up fist. Her face was tinted a light tinge of pink, as she breathed heavily, her eyes narrowed squarely at the boy.

She half expected him at this point to pick up his stuff and leave, that's what any normal person would've done after an outburst like that. Instead, the boy stayed, looking rather surprised than anything else now.

Quickly realizing she'd not scared him off, she felt a familiar heat begin to creep up her face for her small outburst. Acting quickly she hid her face from him by hugging her chin to chest, opting instead for her food to see it in all its glory.

It was another moment or so before the boy spoke up. "Uh… are you ok?"

"Shut up." Nia replied shortly, tilting her face ever so slightly away from him. "I'm already having a bad day, and I don't need you rubbing it in."

Another few moments of silence passed before she heard him sigh. "Look: If you're still mad about earlier, that's fine." The boy said, "I'm just trying to be nice right now."

"Well stop it. It's creepy." She replied, not bothering to lift her head.

"And how is it creepy to help someone out?" he asked innocently.

"It's creepy when the person you're helping nearly knocked your block off just a few hours ago."

The boy cocked an eyebrow, "And what if I still felt bad for that same person?"

Nia glanced towards him, not bothering to lift her head. The kid now wore a complicated expression, not necessarily sad, but more so worried than anything else.

"What?"

"That Malos guy…" He trailed off.

Nia lifted her head now to look at him properly, the heat in her face cooling off.

"What he did wasn't right." The boy continued crossing his arms.

Now it made more sense, and she felt only dumber for not realizing earlier. Of course the kid would've seen the entire debacle. She'd only just managed to draw in the audience of a small crowd, and gotten one across the face while a walking arse of a man blamed her for something she didn't cause.

"So you saw what happened then huh?" Nia asked dryly, if only to confirm her suspicions.

The boy frowned, and nodded. "Isn't he supposed to be your teammate or something?" he asked genuinely.

Nia felt a groan leave her mouth, as she leaned her head back so she looked up at the wood and metal ceiling of the over-sized farmers market. She sighed and shook her head, "I dunno why Malos acts the way he does a lot of times." The Gormotti conceded, "Jin still keeps him around... but I'm not—" she shook her head again, "Never mind… It doesn't matter now." returning her gaze downwards.

She waited with bated breath for him pursue her on it, but as the seconds passed with no word from the kid, she could help but sneak another glance. She found the boy with his head pointed downward as well, he looked to be contemplating something now with his lips perched atop the knuckle of his pointer finger.

It annoyed her. This wasn't how people acted, at least as far as she knew.

"Does everything I say require you to think so hard?" Nia grumbled, "Tell me you're not contemplating the mystery of life over there as well..."

The boy shook his head and picked it back up, his smile returning. "Sorry... Anyway- your food is getting cold." He apologized, "Here: " He handed her a cloth napkin wrapped around a fork and knife from him the pouch on his back. She silently took it from him, unwrapping it and stuffing the napkin halfway in one of her open satchels.

He pulled out a bowl of rice, whilst taking a seat and pulling another set of wrapped utensils out for himself.

Nia's brow lowered at the sight of the additional set of utensils in his hands, "You're eating with me?" She asked halfheartedly, "After all that wonderful 'heart-to-heart stuff' we were doing?"

The boy straightened, realizing she was speaking to him. "I didn't eat anything before this so I got some rice for myself. I just thought you would need some company while you ate… is all..." he trailed off, "Do you not want me around?"

Pain from an imminent headache pulsated in her skull as she opened her mouth to answer, "I— y'know what? It's fine." She dismissed, starting to cut into the fish.

"Uh, ok..." He muttered quietly, going back to his own bowl.

She cut a slice off, and stabbed it with her fork. Looking the meat over experimentally she took a small bite out of it. For a moment it tasted like how she thought it would; fishy like any fish would, not that she minded, but then it suddenly hit her. A small tinge of something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Was it orange? Maybe lemon?

_How much did he pay for this? _She wondered.

"Any good?" The boy asked.

She glanced up at him, still chewing on the fish, and shrugged.

"Trust me, it grows on you after a while." He scooped up another chunk of rice onto his fork. "At least that's how it was for me."

"Huh." Nia responded simply, cutting another slice off.

With that they both fell into relative silence as they both continued to munch quietly on their own food.

* * *

Eventually, whether it being due to the food, or just letting her think in peace, Nia began to feel a little better and the fog around her mind cleared just a bit. With only a singular slice of her fish left and the rice reduced to only a couple individual pieces, she glanced up from her food, now noticing the boy watching her with a strange smile on his face.

"What? What is it?" she asked, somewhat surprised at how calm the words out of her mouth sounded.

"Just seemed like you enjoyed it is all." He grinned, scratching the back of his head.

"It wasn't half-bad." she admitted, failing to suppress a small smile, as she stabbed the last slice with her fork and slipped it into her mouth, snatching her rumpled napkin from the satchel on her hip and wiping her mouth with it.

"That's good." He returned her smile, whilst scooping the last of the rice from his bowl.

They both finished in succession with Nia placing her fork and knife onto her plate neatly, wiping her mouth with the cloth napkin she'd set aside, while the boy haphazardly dropped his fork in his bowl letting out a satisfied exhale and leaned back, using the palms of his hands to support himself.

"Well!" the boy sighed satisfyingly, "I'm glad I could do this for you."

He picked up his bowl, and gestured to her plate. "You done with that?" Nia nodded, and handed it to the boy, watching him stack his bowl on top of hers. "I'm going to return these— What are you going to do?" he asked, standing up.

"Me? I-" Nia paused, she hadn't thought about what she would do next. Certainly, she couldn't stay here all night. At least not when the job… was... tomorrow…

The realization hit her like a sack of bricks, and all the implications made her very briefly see stars.

"I'm—" she found herself hesitant with her words, reluctant to accept them. "I have to go back." She stammered, not meeting his gaze.

"Are you sure?" His voice softened, reading her hesitation and understanding her reluctance. "Will you be ok?"

"Why do you care anyway?" she looked up quickly. He looked taken aback at her response. "Nevermind, just go. I'll be fine." she said, with a shake of her head.

The boy stared at her, for a moment or so, "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then." he said sounding disappointed, as he began to walk off.

"Right, tomorrow…" she muttered to herself.

Watching him leave, Nia could feel something gnawing at her, something other than her current problem. Perhaps it was the way the kid's shoulders were somewhat slumped, or that he was dragging his feet. Whatever it was it made a single fleeting thought cross her mind. _Maybe I should've been nicer..._

Without thinking she found herself standing up and following after him. Though Nia didn't quite understand why she was doing this she could only wonder if it was to appease the thought so it wouldn't bother her later.

"Hey! Hold on a minute!" She called after him, reflexively holding out her hand. He stopped upon hearing her voice, and turned to look at her, regarding her pensively. "Your name: It's Rex, right?" She asked breathlessly, stopping a few feet away.

He nodded silently, a small smile appearing on his lips.

"Rex, I uh… Thanks for the food." she said shortly, carefully avoiding locking eyes with him.

"You're welcome." Rex smiled generously, "Just be careful with that Malos guy."

"Yeah yeah." Nia waved him off, "Now go on. Get out of here."

He waved as to her as he continued walking his own way. Nia watched him with a tiny wave of her own till he finally disappeared from sight. With that girl's small open hand fell limply to her side as she now found herself alone once again.

* * *

Nia sighed and leaned heavily against the post, sliding down onto her bottom, resting her head against it when she felt herself stop as her rear hit the wooden floor.

From where she sat she had a clear view of the entire port, now bathed in the light of the late afternoon twilight. She began to scan said port, almost immediately spotting the familiar looming black form of the Monoceros painted in the last vestiges of light before the coming dark, docked at last spot to the left the complete opposite from where she was. The ship itself was very different from the rest of the vessels docked adjacent from it. While the others very obviously used Titans to act as living engines, or in some cases: over sized mounts they placed steering rigs onto, the Monoceros differed. No matter where you looked you couldn't a single trace of titan, coupled with the large black metal and gold trimming that composed its hull made it more than a bit intimidating.

"Ok Nia: You found the ship. Now what?" she quietly asked herself, a feeling of anxiety starting to take hold of her stomach the longer she looked at it. _All my stuff is there, so I don't really have a choice anyway. _She thought, _Mikhail should be around as well so maybe…_

She continued to ponder the possibilities as a few disparate individuals walked by her post. Her eye was pulled towards them noticing how they all had an equal look of fatigue or certain amount of dirtiness to them. A few of them even giving her a passing glance as they walked on by. Not wanting to seem rude, and more than a little wary, she averted her gaze breaking any sort of eye contact she might form.

For some reason Nia found her thoughts drifting towards the boy, Rex, again. Compared to his annoyingly energetic, childish, but kindhearted personality these people were a far cry, if only from a surface glance.

_What's a kid like that doing in a place like this anyway… _she briefly wondered, shivering a little as a cold breeze brushed past her.

Nia sighed, _And they certainly didn't seem anything like Jin…_ The girl paused as the white haired man's name passed through her thoughts. _… I hope he's ok… _She quickly gave herself a quick shake. _Focus, Nia. Worrying about him won't help you right now._

The Gormotti looked up again in time to find a particularly imposingly large man passing by her. She couldn't really make out his features as the dying light of the sun seemed to obscure them rather than reveal.

Suddenly, the man whipped his head in her direction, as if sensing her eyes on him. "Yuh wan' sum 'thin miss?" he asked, his voice accented with a lisp, telling of his many missing teeth.

Nia froze for a moment before she shook her head. "N- no, it's nothing. Just doing some people watching." she lied, quickly getting to her feet and excusing herself as she found herself forcing herself to trudge aimlessly into the port.

"Where's Dromarch when you need him…" she grumbled idly, before catching herself.

_—Wait, shit! Dromarch! I forgot about Dromarch! _She clenched her fists, _Agh! I'm an idiot! He's probably been wandering everywhere looking for me all day! or..._

The girl focused on her connection with the world around her seemed to darken for a few moments before a specific ping resonated.

"He's close… good." She murmured somewhat relieved, as she looked in the direction of the ping.

Carefully, she gazed around the fairly quiet port. With it being the twilight hours of the day things had slowed down dramatically with a small number of people still wandering about in their directions. Her eyes bounced from vessel to vessel, with no sign of the ball of the white fur in sight.

"C'mon big guy, where are you?"

Nia was about to pass over another ship when she did a double take noticing a particular vessel that caught her eye. The titan, or at least that's what it appeared to be, was shaped like an oversized rock with strange fur-like green grass growing on it, and what looked like a messily cobbled together shack built on top of it. From below the clouds its neck rose with its almost draconic head angled towards itself.

_They'll let a thing like that moor here? _She wondered, noticing how the titan's head followed something on its back.

Her eyes bulged as a familiar puff of white leapt from it to the pier, turning back to the titan with a curt nod. It took the Blade a moment to notice her, his posture straightening as he approached her from down the pier.

"My lady." He bowed, "It's good to see you again!" greeting her promptly.

"You as well big guy." Nia grinned solemnly, glancing up towards the Titan who regarded them from afar with silent intrigue. "What's with that Titan you were with? It's looking at us right now."

"Oh!" he exclaimed, raising himself. "I met him while I was waiting for you and sir Jin to return."

A small pit opened up in her stomach, realizing that the Blade hadn't been told or seen what had happened. "O- oh."

Dromarch raised himself, "By the by: How did your time with sir Jin go?" He asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Uh, it was ok." She fidgeted, summoning up a faux smile. "He and I bought some stuff, and—" She dipped her head a little. "Hey um… Can we just get back already? I'm tired and I just want to lay down."

The Blade looked a bit perplexed by her sudden change. "Certainly my lady, but is there some kind of rush though?" He asked, drawing a bit closer. "I was hoping for you to meet the Titan! He's actually—" The blade stopped short, "My lady what's wrong?"

Nia looked up, finding the Blade now staring straight at her face. "Wh-what?!" she exclaimed, "What is it?"

"You're eyes. They're red." He pointed out, "Did something happen with master Jin?"

Nia's quickly hid her eyes, her mouth moving before her mind could catch up. "No! I mean— ugh..." She shook her head, wanting so badly to hit herself for forgetting that Dromarch was always a stickler for details. "Can we just go?" She pleaded quietly, "You can hound me about it when we get back, alright?"

Dromarch tilted his head, before he nodded silently. The Blade glanced to the titan, who seemed to have been watching them curiously, and shook his head.

The titan seemed to bow its head slightly, before sadly drifting back to its mooring.

* * *

The lonely girl and her tiger walked stiffly through the now mostly quiet port. The few people left on the various docks and titan ships observed the pair with passing interest while others tended to their boats. One of the vessels even had a small billow of smoke rising from it, the scent of cooking meat quickly following it as it wafting over the port.

Though, to the Gormotti this was all stifling, as her pace increasingly slowed as they neared the imposing black ship. At some point she'd stopped in her tracks, still fixated on vessel, a cold feeling writhing in her stomach.

"My lady?" her Blade quietly queried.

Nia flinched, blinking once or twice. "Uh, yeah— I'm still here. I'm fine... Let's go." She muttered, briefly eyeing the Monoceros's exterior again as they turned and began to walk down the pier it'd had been docked at.

Before she knew it, Nia found herself standing in front of the imposing ship, easily dwarfed before it's massive hull.

She grimaced and exhaled turning to her companion "Dromarch."

"Yes?"

"Let me deal with Mikhail— And Malos if we have to."

"My lady?"

She could see the tiger regarding her words with worry. "I'm ok for now Dromarch, just let me handle it. The less he knows the easier it will be to get past him and his mouth."

Dromarch regarded her for a moment or so before he bowed and took a few steps back. "As you wish my lady…"

"Thank you." Nia nodded to her companion returning her attention to the ship in front of her. "Alright, let's do this." She sighed, clenching her hands briefly. Summoning up her courage, she rapped a few times on hull and waited.

A few seconds passed before a small viewing port slid open. "Password?" A voice chimed with a bit of whimsy.

She instantly recognized it. "I know that's you Mikhail."

"Password." the voice repeated.

"Mik just open the hatch." she cautioned.

"Password, or I can't do that lady."

"Lady?!" She nearly squawked, "Mikhail, just open the freaking hatch!"

"Tsk tsk that temper of yours is something to be beheld, y'know?" the voice berated her.

"Yeah, whatever —just open the stupid thing already." She snapped.

"Alright alright." The voice appeased, and slid the view port shut.

A series of mechanical clicks could be heard from inside the hull, followed by a small hiss of air. Like it had been greased with butter, a section of the hull slid outwards and upwards in one fluid motion revealing a person sized entrance into the ship. In the entrance, a taller man with a thinner build with slicked back blonde hair save for a number of strands which hung down over the right side of his face, and dressed in black armor closely resembling what Malos wore, poked himself outwards a flirtatious grin playing across his face.

"It's pretty late, I was wondering when you'd get back." he said, leaning against the opening into the ship. The fluorescent bulbs from inside the ship casting a faint stream of light out onto the pier.

He looked from Nia to Dromarch, smiling. "Oh! There you are Dromarch! Was wondering where you were as well."

The tiger bowed, "Apologies, sir Mikhail."

"I keep telling you: Mikhail is just fine, Snowball." He chuckled, eventually trailing off. "Anway… It's probably getting cold out there." The man held onto the frame of the entrance as he leaned himself out further from the entrance. "Here." Mikhail offered, holding out his hand to her.

Nia flicked between his outstretched hand back to the coquettish grin he still wore. "You're serious? You can't just let me do it myself?"

He emphasized his hand wordlessly, his smile growing.

She rolled her head and exhaled heavily. "Fine."

The Gormotti girl gingerly took his hand and found herself pulled from the pier up and through the doorway, wobbling a little as she landed onto the illuminated metal floor followed closely by her pale furred companion. "Thanks…" she huffed, plucking her hand from the man's grasp.

"No problem." He answered soberly, "Figured a little lady like yourself could use some hel—"

"Mikhail, don't you have somewhere to be?" she interrupted.

The blonde cocked an eyebrow. "Not particularly, why?" He replied thoughtfully. "Was worried you two had gotten into some trouble that's all."

"Trouble?" Nia's ears perked.

Mikhail nodded, turning to press a nearby button to close the hatch, crossing his arms as he turned back. "Malos came back with Jin slung unconscious over his shoulder." Mikhail said, dipping his head as his brow furrowed.

"O-oh." Nia hesitated. _He doesn't know what happened?_

"Truly!? Sir Jin was unconscious?" Dromarch exclaimed, taking a step forward.

_Dammit, Dromarch._

Mikhail nodded, frowning. "I asked him what had happened, but he wouldn't say a word to me." He raised his head, "You wouldn't happen to know anything, would you?"

She could feel both of their eyes on her, looking to see if she had the answer to the question. Nia's hand clenched ever so slightly, as worked to retain her nerve. In one swift move she averted gaze and shook her head.

"Alright..." The blonde sighed, somewhat disappointed. "Sorry, if its not something you wanted to hear."

Nia glanced back, sneaking a quick look at him. To her surprise, she found him showing a rare grimace.

"Uh, If it's alright… Me and Dromarch are going to go get some rest for tomorrow."

He looked back up at the both of them, his mouth quickly forming back into a crooked smile. "Alright, just don't sleep in."

"Right…" She nodded shuffling away.

* * *

Nia followed the metal corridor, her gloved hand lightly tracing the metal walls. The corridor wasn't especially large, only able to fit probably one and a half persons at a time (or in this case a girl and her Blade).

From behind her she could feel the icy blue eyes of her companion boring holes into the back of her skull. Likely, he had some choice words for her with what information Mikhail had unintentionally revealed.

She passed a door or two stopping at the third which was cracked open every so slightly. Pushing the door inward, the Gormotti was greeted to her own personal cabin adorned with its lumpy cot, small trunk for storing various items, and slightly smudged porthole looking outside. It was as barebones as it a cabin could get, but to her it was one of the few places she felt like she could actually breathe even it smelled a bit musty.

She took a few steps inside, and let her Blade pass her as she quietly closed the cabin door with an audible click. With a prolonged exhaled she turned and leaned her back against the door, her hands tucked snuggly behind herself.

Dromarch eyed her. He'd taken the strategic position of sitting next to the cot so she couldn't simply pass out, nor turn herself away from him with deliberately doing so.

Meanwhile his serene demeanor he radiated now seemed to bely the questions he wished to have answered by her. He was always like that: calm and stern, but only because he always kept his other emotions and thoughts in check. His only concern was her betterment, or at least that's how it was most of the time.

"So…" The tiger asked amiably.

"So…" Nia echoed quietly, kicking her feet a little.

"What happened with master Jin? sir Mikhail said Malos had brought him back unconscious..."

She chewed her lip, remaining silent.

"You said we'd talk about it." He impelled her.

"I know…" She screwed her lips up into a wide grimace, "I just...

The Blade tilted it's head slightly. "Just?"

Nia sighed heavily, and dipped her head. "I just don't want to bother you with it is all…"

"My lady…" He said, closing the distance between the two of them somewhat. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what happened."

The over sized fuzzball was right, at least on this. She didn't really have anything to lose by not telling him, aside from potentially confirming her worries. "Fine… Alright…" She nodded. Nia glanced up at him, contorting her lips into a happy frown. "Y'know, you're really good at that sometimes?" she said, shaking her head in defeat. "The whole getting me to talk thing…"

"I'm a Blade, such is my duty to my Driver." Dromarch responded simply.

"You're just lucky I trust you." Nia flashed him a wry grin. "—Anyway, it's a long story…" She said, slumping to her knees, "You don't mind if I sit?"

"Not at all my lady. Take your time, I'm here." He reassured, curling up next to her as she slid down onto her bottom.

With a sad smile Nia began recounting the events of the day to her ever loyal companion.

* * *

Nia stroked the fur on the tiger's head, as he rested his head on her lap.

"So that's when you went to find me…?" He asked quietly.

"Yes… The kid helped me clear my head enough for me to come and find you." She admitted, finding herself absent-mindedly tracing the strange lines of gray colored fur on the tiger's head again. The act itself seemed to calm her mind allowing her thoughts to flow much clearer and calmer.

"To think you'd run into that same boy from the portly Nopon's office…" The tiger, chuckled. "It's a strange coincidence for sure."

"Yeah…" she groaned, "Real… strange…"

The tiger hummed in amusement, " —In any case, my lady. As to your situation with Malos…"

"Yeah… It'll just be me and Malos on the job tomorrow." Nia admitted, finally letting the situation sink in.

"It doesn't seem like the situation can be helped…" Dromarch trailed.

She softly scratched behind one the tiger's ears, "I'm worried about Jin…" she muttered.

"If everything we've seen sir Jin is capable of, I think he'll be fine." Dromarch assured.

"I know that… it's just with Malos and all…" she gently crinkled the tiger's ear in between her fingers.

"If anything happens my lady. No matter what, I'll support you and whatever decision you make." Dromarch guaranteed

Nia paused. She'd always knew that Dromarch would always be there for her, but hearing him say it out loud always was infinitely more comforting; even if it did make her feel like child talking to their parent. "Yeah you're right." The Gormotti murmured, as she rubbed the tiger's back for extra measure to show her appreciation. "Thanks, Dromarch."

"Anytime my lady." He said, snuggling his head into her lap while emitting a low purr.

* * *

The Driver and her Blade conversed a little longer, the Blade giving further assurances and small comforts all the while. Before long the Blade began to yawn longer and louder, and eventually the Driver had found he'd fallen asleep in her lap. With a little effort she lifted his fuzzy maw off her legs and set it gently down onto the floor.

With only the faint moonlight now creeping up and through the porthole into the cabin the Driver felt her way over to the cot, all the while brushing itchy stray strands of white fur off of her outfit.

Nia glanced back at her companion, failing to suppress a tired smile as she watched the slow rises and falls of his breathing.

What she hadn't told Dromarch was how much she'd been downplaying the potential absence of the white haired man had been truly affecting her. With him not there to rein in Malos she could only speculate as to what the taller man would do...

Anxiety rolled in her gut, as she shuffled over to the porthole, illuminating herself in the moonlight. If out of habit, she fished the old bronze locket out of the satchel she'd stowed it away in earlier that day. Once again she held the worn metal trinket in her hand, staring blankly at it as her thumb rubbed circles on its surface. Finally, she clicked it open again revealing the picture of the middle aged man and the small girl seated on his lap. Looking at the the pair's frozen faces, she couldn't shake the feeling that something horrible was going to happen...

Nia gave herself a sudden mental shake.

She couldn't think about what might happen. She HAD to do this, she HAD to prove herself. Prove she WAS capable to the others and that she COULD be useful —that she was USEFUL to Jin.

Nia quickly closed the trinket and tossed it onto the nearby lumpy cot along with herself, finding it to be a much welcome change from the hard floor. Quickly as she'd landed on the bedding she had already begun to disassemble her outfit, kicking off her boots with them landing with a dull clop near the door.

Soon the only thing that was left was the yellow jumpsuit. Her bare fingers navigated to a button on the suit located at the base of the back of her neck. With a small snap she undid it and pulled producing a series of five other pops. The suit's firm hold on her shoulders and chest slackened and the suit's torso fell forwards off exposing her bare skin.

The open air felt nice after having been kooked up in her jumpsuit all day, she pulled her bare hands out of the suit's large sleeves. For a few moments she let herself enjoy the feeling of the cool air on her chest, before she let her head land with a soft plop onto the cot's uneven pillow.

It didn't take long for her mind to be surrounded by an encroaching fog and her eyes wanting nothing more than to pull themselves shut. With self-made confidence for the coming day, and a firm grip on Dromarch's words of encouragement, her thoughts quickly stretched off into the darkness.

Before she let sleep take her a single statement echoed in her mind:

_Be strong Nia, live._


	4. Ch:1-4

A rapid ringing in Rex's ears made his eyes creak open. With a short groan, he dragged himself to the edge of the bed, reaching out and slapping the top of the alarm clock, silencing the incessant noise.

It took him a few minutes to blink away the blurriness in his vision. He'd not slept very well. As much as he tried to suppress them he couldn't get the uneasiness in his stomach to reside.

Summoning some pep he pushed himself off the bed, landing heavily on the wooden floor of the room he'd rented.

Even now a few lingering thoughts danced around his mind. A few with reservations towards the employers he'd be working with and worries for that girl: Nia.

While rolling his shoulders he took his makeshift sword, which he'd folded and leaned against the wall, and clipped it to his back.

He let out a heavy sigh, as he rubbed his eyes a final time. Now wasn't the time to have thoughts like these. For now, it was a job; that's what he should be concerned with. Or at least that's what the rational part of his brain told him.

Scraping his feet a few times on the way he trudged over and picked up the crumpled outer layer of his salvaging suit and diving helmet. "Alright, let's get started." He told himself, putting one of his arms through the article's armholes .

* * *

After thanking and tipping the Nopon who'd gotten him the room for the night he descended down the stairs, briefly pausing at the recreation deck. From here he had a view of the entire bazaar.

It was still fairly early in the day, but already it was brimming with the usual traffic of visitors. To the young man, it always amazed him how such a place like this even existed.

A stray ray of sunlight from one of the various windows that aligned around the interior caught his attention. From where he stood, he couldn't be sure but the sky outside seemed just a little bit brighter. He couldn't help but smile and wondered if this job would be what he needed to really get somewhere in this world.

His mind briefly wandered, envisioning what could be possible, before he brought himself back to reality. With a brief pump of his fists and a slap of his cheeks, he descended down into the bazaar proper.

* * *

Muscle memory kicked in as he navigated through the myriad of stalls. He'd done this more times than he could count, even now it was just like following a proven process.

_They're supposed to be prepping the Maelstrom on the north dock… So if I'm right, it should be just down and past this aisle, then I'm practically there. _He told himself, as he turned down the row of stalls.

Stopping short, he found his view of the end of the aisle blocked by a swarm of people clogging it.

Rex silently cursed to himself. Of course, he'd forgotten that it was the Monday today.

Mondays were always the busiest days in this section of the ship, specifically at this time of the day. This was mainly because of new merchandise shipments arriving and being distributed, normally starting from one side of the market and working to the other as the day wore one. It wasn't the most efficient method mind you, and there had been attempts to refine it in the past with middling results, but none were successful so the tried and true method remained.

_They must've just delivered to this section… That would explain the sudden appearance of people. _He posited, rolling through the list of what he could do.

He gazed up at the direction of the sun's rays of light streaking through the interior. With their angle, he figured he had around an hour and a half until the Maelstrom left. He briefly considered backtracking and going down another aisle, before he calculated how long that could take and how fast he'd have to go.

He'd always liked to arrive early and at his own pace. Rushing always tended to make him anxious and irritable.

He observed the crowded aisle once more, before inhaling and exhaling, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to do. Reaching a hand back he held tightly onto his small bag of supplies and money and plunged into the crowd.

With quick feet, he tried to weave in between the impenetrable numbers of people. Occasionally, his back would glance against someone or he'd bump shoulders with another, this would usually follow with a quick "Sorry" or "Excuse me" from him. Pushing further on he started to imagine himself swimming in the Cloud Sea, just like these people. Those opaque clouds, were always moving and bouncing off one another in an almost disorganized fashion. And here he was metaphorically swimming against the current, like some sort of-

A distracted misstep on his part caused his foot to catch on another's sending him in a short series of hops. "Whoa! Whoa! WHOA! WATCH OUT!" he yelped, his arms windmilling uselessly as he careened forwards into the person in front of him.

His warning came too late and he collided with them painfully, and they both slammed into the ground with a dull thud.

A throbbing on the side of his skull told him he was still conscious, as he picked himself up. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the other person had broken his fall, had taken most of the force. "Ugh… Ow… That hurt." He muttered, massaging his head carefully.

Looking over, he found his fall-breaker to be recovering as well. Having been laid out flat on their back, they slowly sat up.

It was a middle-aged gormotti woman, obvious by the short pointed cat-like ears extending out the top of her head. She had lighter pigmented skin and short curly dark brown hair and wore a rather plain but functional brown two-layered tunic.

"Hey, you ok?" He asked, shuffling on his knees over to her.

"Oogh… huh?" The woman was holding her head still sounding somewhat dazed.

A number of whispers and giggles from around them drew Rex's attention. He found that a small circle of people had formed around them, with a variety of reactions.

_Oh boy, now I'm making a scene._

Rex pushed himself off of the wooden floor, "Can you walk?"

The older woman gave a small shake of her head. "In a minute: still seeing double right now hon." She muttered, massaging her temples.

"Here, let's get out of this crowd first," holding a hand out to her, "It's the least I can do to make up for bowling into you."

The older woman squinted at his extended hand, and gave him a crooked smile. "A personal escort huh?" She cooed with a flirtatious ring in her voice.

His cheeks flushing, he ignored her and took the initiative, grabbing her hand and helping her up. "C- c'mon, you're embarrassing us." He stuttered a little, leading both of them through the crowd now making sure to not lose his footing again.

_Geez, what a strange woman._

Following some less than respectable movements, he was able to force his way out of the sea of people and a short distance away from the bazaar near the Central Exchange. "Finally…" he huffed, helping the still somewhat dazed woman sit down on a nearby cargo crate.

"Thanks, hon." She thanked him, finding her seat on the hardened wood.

"No problem, sorry about running into you like that before." He apologized, "I'd forgotten that it was Monday today… and well…"

"It's fine, I kinda forgot as well," gesturing to herself, "as you can kinda tell."

"Hm?"

Now getting a better look at her, he realized that her tunic she was wearing was pre-worn, judging by the wrinkles in it, and didn't appear to be wearing any makeup highlighting some of her more gaunt features. Plus, her hair looked to have been frizzed in a few areas— likely not yet combed.

"Rough morning?"

The woman suddenly looked a little insulted by his question. "C'mon Rex! You should know I'm not usually out and about on Mondays!"

"Wait how do you know—" He squinted, doing a double take at her features almost hitting himself for not recognizing her earlier. "Wait, Lily?!"

Mrs. Lily—"Lily" as she was referred to by her regulars and friends—was one of the local proprietors aboard Goldmouth, and quite well known at that, as she mainly sold various fabrics and sewing supply imported from all across Alrest. Having been a friend of Rex and his Aunt Corrine for many years, stretching all the way back to his childhood. It was her, in fact, that had been the one to help get him an 'in' and registered with the Argentum Guild when he'd first arrived. As the years had gone by, she'd come to serve as another extension of his 'family' regularly taking time to chat and invite him over dinner with herself, her husband, and their five kids whenever he came to port.

"Lily!? What the heck!"

A wry grin crossed the older woman's mouth. "Didn't recognize me? Guess I'm not so memorable without all my makeup on, huh?"

"N-no! I didn't mean it like that…" He stared down at his feet.

"Ah, quit it you. It's alright, I was kinda hoping no one would recognize me anyway."

He looked up, questioningly.

"Ahh... now you've got that look on your face now." She let out a heavy sigh. "Alright," The gormotti raked a few fingers through her locks trying to fix them, "I'm actually looking for a customer from yesterday."

"What happened? They steal from you or something?" Rex asked innocently.

"No no. Nothing like that actually." She said shaking her head, "More so, I'm actually worried for her."

"So it's a girl?"

Lily grimaced and nodded. "She looked about your age too, had this really pretty beige hair- oh! And this smile like you wouldn't believe!" Her eyes searching the air for something that wasn't there, while her voice fading into fondness.

"Was she a gormotti?" he asked, already having more than a hunch as to who she was talking about.

"Yeah! She even had this yellow jumpsuit on, I was betting it was custom-made there was no way— hold on." The woman's eyes now laser-focused on him."Did you see her?"

"Lily hold on a moment here, I don't think—"

Lily's face lit up like a blaze. "You did see her!" She nearly launched herself off the box at him."Where did she go?! I spent all night worrying about her!"

He was taken aback by the woman's sudden burst of emotions, compared to just a few minutes prior. "Wh-whoa! Ok! Just a minute here!" He said, trying his best to calm the woman, who now looked ready to run a mile and tackle someone.

"I'm not really sure where she is, but I think she's ok."

The older gormotti looked perplexed.

"I mean- I know that sounds vague but," He folded his arms, bowing her head, "it's more complicated than you think."

Lily crossed her arms, the fire in her eyes fading. "Rex, usually someone says stuff like that when they aren't particularly sure of what to do."

He raised his head, surprised by her response.

"I saw what happened to the girl: how that man smacked her down like she was nothing." She explained. "You seem to know more than I do about the situation."

Rex lowered his head, biting his lip. "She said it was none of my business."

The older woman paused a moment, letting some silence pass between them. "How about you just tell me about it?" She spoke softly, "Obviously it's eating at you, right?"

Rex looked at her with somewhat lost eyes.

"Maybe if we talk about it, you could sort yourself out and we could both come up with a way to help her." Lily offered.

"But she said—"

"I know what she said, you just told me. But are you going to just let her handle it on her own?"

He stared at her for a moment before he hung his head and conceded with an added nod.

She leaned forward and tousled his spiky hair. "I'm here for you champ. It's the least I can do for you and your aunt after being friends with the both of you for so many years." She smiled.

"... Thanks, Mrs. Lily."

* * *

Rex recounted the events of the previous day to her, taking care to omit mentioning anything about the job or the fact that Nia and her teammates were Drivers, but Lily seemed to immediately pick up on this and any inconsistencies he'd let slip.

And so what followed was a moderately painful, at least for him, session of filling her in on details with her becoming all the more concerned and disappointed by the moment.

"So wait. Let me get this straight: The girl: Nia, the tall guy: Malos, and the one with white hair are ALL Drivers, and you were invited by Chairman Bana to go along with a number of other Salvagers around to participate in a job you know next to nothing about?" She questioned, now having learned the full details.

He nodded guiltily.

"And you accepted such a job without so much as a second thought? Correct?"

Again he nodded guiltily, feeling the full weight of his own stupidity on his shoulders.

She looked at him incredulously. "Why?"

"Because the money was a hundred times more than I was making." He said bringing his chin against his neck. "And Bana offered to double on return..."

"Two hundred thousand." She muttered thoughtfully.

Lily looked up, her piercing gaze nearly sliced him in two. "Tell me it wasn't all for yourself."

"No! Of course not!" He answered meeting her eyes. "I sent almost all of it back home to Fonsett…"

"To your Auntie Corrine?"

He nodded again, dipping his head back down again. "She needs the money so…"

"Hmph." She grunted, "I guess she and your Gramps did raise you right."

Rex raised his eyes, noticing she was smiling fondly as she reached forwards and knocked on the top of his head.

"But!" She said, lifting his chin with her pointer finger. "You've got to use your head, and not try to hide your problems from others."

He creased his brow. "But this just all happened yesterday Lily! How could I even be hiding it if this is the first time I've talked about it?!" Rex tried to defend himself.

"By trying to lie about it, you're hiding it." She responded, giving him a sharp flick to his forehead. "Simple. As. That."

Rex's cheeks burned once again with embarrassment, as he rubbed his forehead. If he could guess, he'd say it was her way of calling him an idiot. Both for trying to lie to her and taking the 'job' so blindly. It was nowhere near Gramp's nearly bursting his ear drums with his reprimands but it did the job all the same.

"Now: How about you tell me what you did when you went after her." She asked with the care and understanding that only a mother could offer.

He nodded, still pink in the cheeks.

* * *

"-And that's the last time I saw her." Rex huffed as he finished his story, feeling as if he'd been put through a day's work already.

It was a minute or so before Lily spoke up. "So she told you she'd be fine?"

"Not specifically, but yeah pretty much." He replied, now having taken to leaning against the box Lily sat on himself. "But I think I made her happier. She even called me by my name and thanked me for the food." He smiled hopefully.

"By the sounds of it, I think you definitely helped her pull herself together."

"You think?" He glanced up at her, surprised by her response.

"I do, and nice job with getting her that food." She complimented him, "I know for a fact she didn't have enough money to get her own meal."

Rex blushed. "I was just trying to be nice that's all…"

"Keep that up and you'll be real lady killer one day, kid." She smirked. "Heck, if I were your age I'd be all over you."

Rex stared at her with wide eyes.

"Kidding! Kidding!" Lily quickly followed up, "Jeez... none of you kids can take a joke?"

"We can. Just not the bad ones."

"Boo… You're no fun." she lamented, nudging him playfully with one of her feet.

A few moments passed before the older woman spoke again, the playfulness now gone. "Now I won't repeat to you what I think of the circumstances of you accepting this 'job'" She crossed her arms, "and I don't really care if that girl and her team are Drivers or not."

Rex swallowed nervously, knowing she was building to something.

"But I have to know:" Lily tilted her head ever slightly, "What are you going to do?"

"How do you mean?"

"Rex:" Lily addressed him pointedly, her voice sharp but empathetic, "The girl's own teammate hit her. I don't want to make any assumptions about her situation, but no matter how we look at it, that isn't right."

Rex sighed heavily and nodded, idly chewing on his lip.

_Guess she's in the same head space as me now..._

"Don't get me wrong, I can see why you'd be apprehensive, but I've been around long enough to know that nothing good comes from just leaving her be."

_And as usual, the elder more than likely knows better._

"Yeah…" He huffed, "I know."

"Rex, I CAN get some people involved if you want." She offered.

Rex shook his head, "Lily, they're Drivers. Even if we did get the other shopkeeps involved, we'd just end up getting more people hurt."

Lily crossed her arms, "I never said we'd be resorting to violence hon. More so, I was thinking we'd just intimidate them."

Rex furrowed his brow questioningly.

"Y'know, make it known we don't tolerate that sort of thing? Probably get that Malos guy to apologize or too."

He briefly reconsidered her offer. It wasn't a bad idea, but there was one problem.

"But wouldn't that just reflect back on her?" He asked.

The gormotti woman paused at the question, "Rex, whatever we do here may well reflect back on her. Are you suggesting we don't do anything?"

"No I- I'm not saying that." He recovered.

"Then what are you saying?"

It was a good question. So good that it caused his prepared response to die in his mouth. He tried to prepare another one, but try as he might he couldn't get anything to come to mind.

Lily had a point: Something had to be done, but none of those 'somethings' would end well where Nia was concerned. Unless he— An idea sprang into his mind.

"Hun, I know these sort of things can be difficult but—"

Rex leaned off the box. "I'll do it."

"Come again?"

"I'll talk that Malos guy myself."

She looked at him with surprise. "Rex…"

"Lily it's like I explained: they've hired me and a bunch of other salvagers around for this job of theirs." He stated confidently, "If he tries to start something then it'll be on him for hurting one the hirees."

"Rex, are you sure?" She gripped the hem of her tunic. "I can't even begin to tell you how much I love that ever inexhaustible optimism of yours, but if your aunt or I lost you—"

He grinned, "I'll be fine, I've already seen how the guy moves when he took a swing at me before." Rex stated plainly, "If it doesn't work out then maybe we could see about trying your way? Alright?"

Lily grimaced looking more than a bit worried now. "Rex if things don't work out then there won't be a 'we' to speak of. It'll just be me and you— gone." She shuddered. "Your Gramps was right to worry about you..."

It stung a bit to hear her say that. He'd been trying to keep Gramp's lecture as far back in his mind as possible, but hearing it only confirmed by another was enough to give him a small amount of doubt.

Before he could second guess himself he caught a glimpse of yellow out of the corner of his eye. He swiftly turned his head to follow it, finding said yellow to actually turn out to be a jumpsuit and attached to it was a head of beige hair, with a puff of white following close behind.

"Lily, I have to go." His legs already moving on their own.

"Rex?! H-hey! Wait!" The older gormotti called out trying her best scoot on the box herself, "Rex! Were not done yet!"

But he'd already disappeared into the crowd.

* * *

Yet again Rex found himself weaving through the crowds, catching flits of yellow and beige every now and again as he tried his best to catch up with the girl in question.

"Hey! Nia! Wait up!" He called out, trying to raise a hand above the crowd for her to notice.

Unfortunately, it appeared she couldn't hear him above the constant chatter and only kept walking further and further away.

Rex huffed in annoyance. It was always Mondays that gave him these troubles. Gazing above the crowd at his surroundings, he could recognize she was headed towards the Maelstrom.

Idly he wondered how long he'd been chatting with Lily, and checked the sun's rays to find that they'd shifted to much sharper angles as the sun grew closer to its zenith.

Rex felt his stomach sink a little with the realization of exactly how much time had passed. Gathering himself he tried his best to be as polite as possible as he made his way through the crowd, struggling to keep sight of Nia before he lost her completely between two larger bodied people.

He cursed under his breath clawing even more desperately forwards, until—

Rex tumbled forwards on to his back, red in the face and panting.

"It's official, I hate crowds." He huffed, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

With a little effort, he pushed himself up to find himself on the starboard port in front of a massive ship easily ten of him high.

Its hull, made entirely with metal construction, had a massive number of nick and scratch markings across its entirety, likely due its years of use. Reinforcing this were splotches of discoloration on various areas as well. Above the vessel, a large floating fish-like titan hung lazily, occasionally moving its fins through the air with slow exaggerated waving motions. It was only held there by a collection of metal cables tethered to various points of the ship's deck. Though what made it truly distinct were the two massive solid metal cranes at its stern and bow, threaded with thick metal cabling that could haul up objects weighing easily half its weight if needed.

This oversized monstrosity was the Maelstrom and was one of the massive boons to the Argentum Trade Guild, besides Goldmouth itself, as it was one of the few salvaging ships exclusively able to support nearly three dozen salvagers diving at once compared to the normal salvaging ships which at max could only manage a measly three to five at a time.

While he'd normally be ogling a beauty like this, his mind had different priorities at the moment.

_Where'd she go? _He thought, scanning around for the gormotti in question.

It took him a moment to find her, spotting her slowly approaching the boarding entrance. He would've tried calling out again if he didn't notice who was just a short distance from her.

His stomach clenched a little. It was Malos and he looked to have a Reptile standing on its hind legs with him. A Blade perhaps? He'd already assumed that the man was a Driver so it only made sense.

The expression of the dark haired man didn't seem any different from the previous day, still confident.

Suddenly, a pair of brown padded boots appeared in front of him. "Oi Rex, what are you doing just sitting there?" they asked, a hand reaching down and yanking him upwards by his forearm.

Rex, as he was brought up onto his feet, found that said hand was attached to a bald dark-skinned man, his brow rather pronounced and his brown eyes smaller and marked by thin wrinkles. Much like Rex, he wore a salvaging suit as well, though it was bulkier due in part to the size difference and the extra padding it had in certain areas.

"Everyone's been wondering where you've been, kid." He greeted him with a heavy pat on the shoulder.

"Oh, hey Spraine," Rex replied halfheartedly, trying to see past the larger man.

By the looks of it, he guessed that Malos had noticed the gormotti girl as he moved to approach her. The taller man didn't seem angry; his expression remained rather placid.

"We were taking bets on whether or not you were going to actually show up." The older man smiled, "Of course, I put money on you."

"Oh, thanks."

Nia seemed to turn herself away from the dark haired man as he approached and greeted her. He couldn't quite tell what was being said, but judging by Malos' body language he didn't seem like he was harassing her.

"—Rex you listenin' to me?"

He snapped back to the man in front of him. "Oh uh, yeah. What now?"

Spraine sighed heavily. "I was talking about after we set off."

"Uh... yeah. What's going on with that now?"

"Were estimated to arrive at the destination later in the afternoon: around five-ish. That means we've got to have people for the lookout position."

"Uh huh." He said, peering past Spraine once again.

Nia still wasn't facing Malos, even though the man was obviously talking to her. He didn't blame her for acting like that, the guy had more or less brought it on himself.

"Rex!" Spraine yelled.

He nearly fell over. "What!? What?!"

"PAY. ATTENTION," said the older man, jabbing a finger in his face. "In fact- what are you even looking at!?" The man quickly turned and followed Rex's eyes quickly pinpointing what was pulling his attention.

"Oh. Well now that makes sense…" the man said his voice suddenly becoming low, as he began rubbing his chin.

Rex glanced over to the dark skinner man questioningly.

"Yeah… Rumors have been going around about those Drivers— or rather our employers." Spraine continued.

"Huh, I thought they'd looked different." Rex said feigning ignorance. "So they're joining us on the operation?"

"Eh-yup. Personally, I'm not so worried about the short one. The tall one, on the other hand, I'd keep an eye on."

"How do you mean?"

"From what I hear he caused some drama last night, apparently he hit the girl."

Rex swallowed. He knew word got around fast, but not THIS fast.

"Do you think anyone will ask them about it?" Rex asked nervously.

"No, at least I dun think so. No one will bother with the man, on part of him looking like he'll steal your throat if you look at him funny, but the gormotti girl…" He turned slightly towards Rex. "If I were her, I'd keep clear when everyone starts boozing up."

Rex gave Spraine a severe look. "You're kidding."

He shook his head. "Nope, Galt's got enough stored away on the ol' Maelstrom here to last till—"

Nia moved without much warning past Malos and boarded the Maelstrom. By the way her hands were balled into fists it was easy to guess something had probably been said to earn her ire.

"I'm getting the feeling that girl isn't going to enjoy our band of merry men." Spraine commented quietly.

"You don't say." Rex added, narrowing his eyes.

"... Welp." Spraine said, giving him two pats on the shoulder. "I'm going on ahead, if you have anything you'd like to take care of, I'd do it now."

Rex nodded, watching him jog off and board the Maelstrom.

It was just him again, and Malos was just a walk skip and a hop away, standing a few feet from the boarding area. If there was a better time to put what he'd said into action, now would be that time.

With a heavy exhale through his nostrils, he began to slowly trudge forward.

Malos' attention was on his Blade, having a one-sided conversation with it. He was in the middle of justifying himself to said Blade, when Rex looked to have caught his eye.

"What do we have here?" he announced, confidently putting both hands on his hips. "What do you want kid?"

Rex frowned.

"I'm guessing by that shitty look on your face you have beef with me?" Malos guessed.

He nodded.

Malos crossed his arms, "Well if you're going to say something, kid, spit it out. I'm kinda in a hurry here."

_Alright Rex, if he tries anything you've got about a hundred-plus people as witnesses._

"I saw what you did to that girl yesterday." Rex stated directly.

"You're going to have to be more specific kid, there's a lot of things I've done and it is oh so hard to remember them all." He replied, with a slight tilt of his head to the side.

Rex's frown deepened. "The gormotti girl: Nia. One of your teammates."

Malos' confident grin faltered at the mention of her name. "How do you know her name— Wait." He leaned forwards studying Rex for a moment or so, looking him up and down. "You look familiar… have we met before?"

Rex clammed up. He couldn't believe what the man was implying. Had he really already forgotten him?! Even after taking a swing or three at him!?

Thankfully, before Rex was forced to jog the man's memory, the Blade stepped in.

"I think this is that person you 'tested' yesterday." The reptilian Blade replied, looking Rex over once or twice as well. "That would explain why he knows her name. Though," The Blade gave Malos an accusatory glance, "you neglected to mention they were just a child."

Malos glared at the Blade, giving Rex a glance as well. "It was a simple last minute hire, Sever, you know I don't memorize faces that well."

"If you say so." Sever replied, with what sounded like skepticism through his gravely voice.

Giving Sever a healthy shove with his shoulder, the dark-haired man returned his attention to Rex. "So, what do you want kid?"

"It's Rex."

"Whatever you say, kid." he replied dismissively, "Do you want me to make an apology letter? Buy her a bouquet of flowers to go with it?"

Rex pursed his lips. "The least she deserves is an apology." He responded tightly, "I don't know her personally, but based on the way she ran off after you hit her I think you really hurt her feelings."

He took a moment to let it sink in before continuing, "That and I don't think that man with the white hair would appreciate you hitting her for a misunderstanding."

Rex took note of how Malos' eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of the white-haired man. "So yes. I think she needs an apology, and while you're at it, ease up on her as well."

"Anything else? Wanna slug me in the face as well to make amends?" Malos asked with indifference.

Rex couldn't believe his ears, how could he just—

"Rex!"

It was Spraine, he'd just emerged from the boarding area.

"Rex, they just did final call!" The older man grabbed him by the arm. "C'mon!"

"Wha- ah! Hey!" He tried to protest, but the larger man already had started half-dragging him inside the Maelstrom.

Rex only had time to catch a quick glance of Malos. He seemed to be staring distantly at his own hand before noticing Rex's gaze. With a grin he followed them in while keeping a serviceable distance away, Sever meanwhile tagged along with a measure of gloominess to himself.

* * *

Following the undocking procedures the Maelstrom finally took off from the port; Spraine, as it turned out, had another reason for nearly having to drag Rex onto the Maelstrom.

"Hey guys! I've brought him!" Spraine announced, as they both made it into the cargo bay, to a group of jolly looking salvagers of various sizes and shapes.

Up to this point, Rex had been trying to keep track of Malos, who'd been keeping his distance from the two still wearing that mocking grin of his. That was all thrown out of his mind as Rex was suddenly lost in a sea of different and familiar faces.

What followed was Spraine introducing Rex to the group of salvagers (mostly against his will).

While the old faces greeted him with open arms; the new ones were confused, evidently, they'd never seen a salvager of Rex's age before. Apparently, in Rex's case, he was an anomaly as most of the new salvagers were shipped in from other areas where most kids Rex's age were still attending school or assisting their parents in running the family business.

What followed was Rex being turned into a boondoggle by his fellow salvagers, pestering him to tell the rest of them about his experiences. Multiple times he tried to excuse himself, before he would immediately be pulled back in. This seemed to continue on and on, eventually Rex found himself seated at a table with the rest of them.

By this time Galt, the drunken enigma that he was, had broken out the booze. Everyone around Rex, except for himself as they'd kept it away from him stating he was 'too young', smelled of alcohol. Already he had a strong feeling this situation was going to take a turn for the worse.

Then came the dreaded question.

"Okay Rex." An obviously buzzed man in his later twenties asked, leaning forward on the table with both his hands. "We've heard enough from you and your friends here," He pointed his finger and circled it at everyone around him eliciting a few snorts and laughs from the others, "But here's what I want to know:" The man let his face lean into the palm of his hand as he propped his elbow up on top of the table, an intrigued smile playing at his lips. "Why do you it? I mean, you're so young- a kid like you HAS to have a reason to be a salvager!"

The restlessness to get up and leave he'd been trying to suppress was interrupted by an out of place coldness prickling at the back of his neck. "Oh... well… Y'know, it's not THAT important." He replied, trying to deflect and bury the question.

"OH COME ON. Don't give me that!" The man pursued, "It's not like it's a big secret is it?"

"Yeah Rex tells us!" Another salvager joined in.

"I mean… Well… Ok, alright." He conceded with a nod. "I'm doing it for my aunt back home in Fonsett."

A permeable silence overcame the group.

"That's in Leftheria, right? My sister actually has some property out there. Is she sick or something?" The man asked.

Rex shook his head, "No, thankfully. She runs an orphanage for some of the orphans from the war."

"Mou mou you mean between Ardania and Uraya?" A nopon salvager asked.

"Yeah, there are already a number of mouths to feed and money is already tight so—"

The man held a hand out to stop him, "Say no more Rex." And stood up in his seat while taking another drink of his booze. "When we score BIG off this. How bout I give you 10% of what I make off this?"

Rex's could barely stop his eyes from widening to the size of dinner plates.

_Do like Aunt Corrine told you: Be humble._

"No no. I couldn't take that from you. Really." he waved his hands, "For all we know this may be the booze talking here."

The man appeared to contemplate Rex's words, and sat back in his seat. "Maybe so, but even still. I want to at least try to do something to help. " He extended a hand towards Rex, "Really."

Rex studied the hand extended towards him swapping between it and the man's genuine smile, before he reluctantly took.

The man gripped Rex's hand tightly. "Kurt. Kurt Streighbur. And you?"

"Rex. Just Rex." he replied, gripping his hand in kind.

"You don't have a last name?" Kurt asked, tilting his head questioningly.

Rex shook his head. "Don't remember it, so I guess I don't have one."

"Well Rex. You've got this Samaritan's support all the way."

And with that the two of them shook hand in hand, eliciting applause from everyone around them. Wide smiles were on everyone's faces as everyone chattered happily.

Letting go of Kurt's hand, Rex sat down and leaned back in his seat with a sigh, letting the breath he'd been holding, out, glad everything went as well as it did.

That is until Spraine leaned in over Rex's shoulder. "Hey Rex, how about you tell them the other reason you're doing it."

With that the chatte suddenly ceased and all eyes were back on him again, so was the chill on his neck now coupled with a twinge in his gut.

_Spraine how much have you had to drink!?_

"What do you mean by 'other reason' Spraine?" A salvager asked passingly while downing another mouthful of booze.

"Eh… I'd better let our boy Rex here explain himself." He said, putting a hand on Rex's shoulder. "Right Rex?"

Rex shifted in his seat to give Spraine the harshest glare he could give. In response, the older man simply grinned goofily back at him the alcohol heavy on his breath.

_No wonder you knew about the booze…_

He could feel the anticipation mounting as everyone around him remained silent, even Kurt looked somewhat contemplative now despite the alcohol in his system.

With a sigh he pinched the bridge of his nose with his pointer finger and thumb. "Fine. It's embarrassing though." He remarked, suppressing an urge to elbow Spraine in the stomach who'd figured Rex's shoulder was his property now for his head to rest on.

"Elysium. I want to go to Elysium. That's my dream."

The whole group was silent.

"Wait, Elysium? As in Eden? You want to go to THAT Eden?" Someone asked, trying desperately to stifle their snickering.

Rex felt the cheeks on his face beginning to burn with embarrassment. "Yes, I want get to that place." He said, dipping his head slightly.

At that, everyone burst into laughter.

Panic set in as he tried to defend himself. "Is it really that crazy though!? I mean, if everyone didn't have to fight over land and dwindling resources. We wouldn't have to worry about our homes sinking away!"

"Rex! That's just a child's fable to make sure kids stay in bed at night!" A salvager chortled, while the laughter only grew in volume.

"Everyone could have peace and security…" He mumbled to himself eventually trailing off.

Rex bit his lip as he held back unbridled anger and embarrassment at everyone's gleeful faces. Amongst everyone the only one not laughing was Kurt, who looked even more thoughtful now. He gazed hopefully at the man looking for some sort of comfort in knowing he wasn't the only one that believed, that is before the man suddenly spat and broke into cries of laughter as well.

Rex could take no more and stood up, knocking Spraine over and onto the floor with a heavy bang, and stormed off.

* * *

A cold breeze ran across the deck of the Maelstrom. With the engines giving off their own heat below the wooden deck, it helped balance out the temperature by absorbing some of the heat, effectively making warm enough to sleep on.

Rex held onto one of the guard rails of Maelstrom's deck biding his time as he looked out at the layer of clouds below. They were easily a ped or so above the rolling of the layer of clouds below so there was no fear of accidentally being sucked in by a rogue wave.

He'd been up here for a little while already, after he'd broken away from the group below. He'd tried to find Malos if only to continue their conversation and take out some of his aggression as well. Unfortunately, this had only succeeded in angrily stalking the corridors and climbing the stairs around the ship more times than he could count.

Now here he was somewhat irritated and emotionally beat down.

The Maelstrom had left port some hours ago at this point, and the sky had turned from a bright blue to a rapidly brimming orange with the sun now nearing its descent beyond the horizon. Time had passed for sure. So why then did it feel like they were no closer than before? He exhaled breathily, and leaned into railing letting it take the majority of his weight as he slouched over it.

Honestly, even if he found Malos now he doubted he could even get a word in edgewise without the guy immediately disregarding him.

_Maybe Lily was right…_

Lily… He'd left her there near the central exchange after he ran off to chase after Nia. She was probably beside herself with worry, for Nia and for him. Guilt buzzed behind his every thought.

What was he thinking with a plan like that anyways? 'I'll talk to that Malos guy myself.' He was just one person, and a kid no less. Heck, the jerk could barely remember him after they'd just met the day previous so that should've been evidence enough.

Rex found the thought of hitting himself right now to be somewhat appealing.

Before he could entertain the thought any further he was interrupted by the sound of a pair of small footsteps approaching him from behind.

"Rex?" They asked, their voice small and squeaky.

_Probably one of the Nopons. _He figured.

"Yeah?" Rex murmured, not bothering to look back at them.

"Shift for lookout is next."

"Fine." He waved them off without looking. "Just give a minute and I'll be there."

"If Rex not there and captain finds out then is on you."

"Yep yep." Rex waited a few moments, letting the footsteps grow distant.

He idly watched the passing of the clouds below with half lidded eyes before he sighed and stood up, leaning off the railing. Letting one of his feet drag on the floor with every step he slowly made his way across the deck and toward the stairs to the lookout.

While his previous thoughts still richoted around in his head, a small part of him knew that he had to stay positive. Thinking negatively usually just made things worse than they already were.

Rex approached the stairs leading up the crow's nest, just as another crew member descended down them.

"Oh, hey Rex." They greeted him affably, "You taking over for me then?"

He nodded, "Yeah, how's the weather up there?"

The crew member bobbed his head from side to side, "Eh, so-so. The main thing is the wind up there makes things a bit chilly."

"Doesn't sound so bad. Quiet too? I kinda wanna clear my thoughts right now." Rex admitted, knocking on his head for comedic effect.

The crew member frowned and tapped a finger to the side of their mouth. "Well… There is another person up there. No one I know, but they mostly kept to themselves so you'll probably be fine."

"Ok, thanks for letting me know."

"Oh yeah, before I forget. Here:" The crewmember handed him a pair of binoculars. "You'll need these."

With a mutual wave between him and the crewmember, Rex began climbing the steps, making sure to grip the guide rail as he went along.

_Another person huh?_

He turned and rounded up the second set of stairs, his goal already in view at the top.

_I wonder what they're like..._

As he got to the final few steps, he kept his eyes glued to his footfalls so he didn't trip at the top and make a fool out of himself. Before he knew it, he was at the top and stepped up into the small viewing box of the crow's nest. Looking up, he saw the shape of what appeared to be his 'lookout buddy' for the time being curled up in the corner, but with the shadows cast by the progressively setting sun he couldn't quite make them out.

"Uh hello? Hey, are you asleep?" He said, his voice just above a whisper.

He took a careful step forward and leaned in to get a better look.

And it nearly made him swallow his own tongue.

* * *

Yellow jumpsuit. Cat-like ears. Beige hair.

It was Nia.

To say Rex was surprised was an understatement, both in that he'd found her up here but also that she'd not immediately run him off.

"Uh… Hey?" He greeted hesitantly, not sure how she may respond.

"Hey to you too." She replied quietly, her bronze eyes seeming to shimmer somewhat in the later afternoon sun.

Rex waited a few seconds for her to speak before continuing. "Do you mind if I'm up here?" He held up the binoculars. "I'm on lookout duty so…"

"It's fine," she said, pushing herself off the ground. "Let me get out of your way."

He regarded her with a small frown as she shuffled past him and took a seat on the steps behind him.

_Well, she's not mad to see me so that's good, but she's being quiet like before. I'll see if she wants to take the lead this time._

Rex stared at her for a few moments before moving himself into position in the crow's nest and began idly scanning the horizon.

The both of them remained silent for some time, with the sun descending further and further into the sky.

… _Ok, this isn't working. Were both just going to keep sitting here._

"So uh… I'm guessing you didn't like the guys boozing it up down there?" He asked, attempting to make small talk.

"I'd be lying if I said no." she replied bitterly, only barely turning her head in his direction as a cold breeze blew past both of them.

Rex shivered a little as he felt the heat from where his bare skin was exposed sapped away. Furiously, he rubbed the areas with his free hand to try and put heat back into them. _Well, they certainly weren't lying when they said it was a bit cold._

"Well, I guess it's good you're not a salvager then." He replied, noticing her properly turning herself towards him letting her body lay into the steps while she propped her head up on the top step with her arms.

"Gotta swim like a fish, and drink like one too." He added smartly, imitating a fish's motion with his hand.

He noticed a very small but honest smile appear on the girl's lips as he let his hand 'swim' through the air.

"Sounds terrible, don't think I'll be making a career change anytime soon."

"Probably for the best then. If anything I bet Drivers can earn a heck of a lot more than us Salvagers anyway." He replied, not sure if she was humoring him or not.

The smile on her face disappeared. "Rex, tell me something." She asked forwardly.

"Uh, alright?" Surprised with sudden her question.

"Are they always like that? Your salvager friends?"

Rex tilted his head, "I'm not sure what you mean."

"What I mean is: Are they really ALL just COMPLETE blithering morons?!" She growled, her voice ever so slightly betraying any emotions she was attempting to hold back.

"Nia, I'm not sure what you're—"

"You don't have to play dumb with me Rex, I saw how they treated you," Nia said now standing up, her expression somewhat strained. "I mean, that one guy offered you more money for your family and then—"

"Nia hold on a moment here." He tried to appease her.

"And why should I? They practically stepped all over your dream!"

"So you were there for that part as well…" He mumbled, averting his eyes as he nervously scratched the back of his head feeling embarrassment once again burning his cheeks.

"Rex, I won't tell you what to believe in with your dream of going to Elysium— Eden. Whatever it is called." She took a few steps towards him, "But you can't let people do that to you."

Rex grimaced up, and averted his gaze. "It's not like I really had a choice. Some of those guys have heard it before, so they would've just called me out." He looked back toward her, "Why do you care anyway?"

Nia gave him a hard look. "Rex, you seem like a good hard working kid and you've still got many years ahead of you. But one day you'll be their age, and they'll be either be gone or dead. Think about where you want to be when that happens." She said, her voice softening ever so slightly.

Rex folded his arms and furrowed his brow as her words bounced around in his mind.

Nia was right. One day he'd be as old as the rest of the guys. Where did he want to be when that happened? Would he find a way into Elysium by then? Would he still be a salvager at that point?

"Sorry." She apologized suddenly.

"Huh?" He looked back up at her.

She had interlocked her hands behind her back and dipped her head slightly. "I'm trying to give you advice and it's only causing you to doubt yourself."

"No! It's-" He paused, tightly pressing his lips together. "I've just never thought about it that way. Getting older I mean."

His words didn't seem to comfort her, as worry crossed her features.

"Probably because I'm still just a kid right?" Rex chuckled, forcing a smile.

"Rex…"

He gave her another confident smile and trudged his way to the north wall of the Crow's nest, his eye drawn to the towering tree in the distance, its bark painted gold in the setting sun. Yggdrasil, or The World Tree as it was called colloquially.

Supposedly at its peak, beyond the haze of clouds which obscured it (or at least according to the fables) the land of Eden, or Elysium depending on who you asked, rest there. A place where the land was rich and endless and the streams never ran dry.

_No need to fight over dwindling land and resources…_

_No need to worry about our homes sinking away..._

_A place where everyone could live in peace and security…_

Was a dream like that really really worth believing in? Or was it really just that: A dream?

"Do you look at it a lot?" Nia asked, suddenly standing beside him. "That overgrown shrub, I mean."

"Sometimes…" He replied, failing to hide his amusement at her cynical description.

"When I'm salvaging I usually find all sorts of things… Some of it trash, some of its treasure." He leaned forward slightly so he could see the Cloud Sea below. "But all of it is from people long gone."

He could feel her studying him, possibly trying to make sense of his words. "You've noticed how there are fewer Titans each day?"

Nia gave a silent nod.

"I saw one go under just yesterday while I was traveling to Goldmouth with Gramps. No people were on it, but there must've been many animals still living on it when it went under." He unconsciously clenched his hands into fists. "Sooner or later we'll be the ones sinking into the Cloud Sea."

"I'm guessing that's partly why you want to find a way to Elysium?" Nia asked.

"Yeah." Rex acknowledged, folding his arms.

The two of them shared a few moments of silence.

It surprised him how forward she was being with him, especially when compared to the previous night. Maybe this is how she was normally?

_I wonder..._

"Hey, Nia?"

"Yeah?" She said, leaning into his view.

"What do you think about it?" He asked, feeling hopeful. "Elysium, I mean."

"You sure you want to know?" She replied, looking to the massive tree as well.

He nodded, "I'm just curious is all."

She exhaled and looked up into the yellowing sky above. "Personally, I think it's dumb."

"Well that's a nice response." He replied somewhat indignantly.

"It's your own fault, kid." She shrugged, blameless. "But… It does seem like you really think it'll help everyone if we could all go there." Nia followed up.

"Not just to help people," he clarified, "I want to see people actually happy as well." He turned back to her, "If Elysium's the only way to achieve that, then I'll have to do everything I can to see that dream through. Even if it takes my whole life!"

Nia looked to have a genuine smile on her face now, in spite of what she'd said earlier. For some reason he found it to be oddly… infectious.

"There's that annoying optimism of yours. Glad to see it back."

A real smile of his own spread across his lips. "Thanks, Nia." He said, feeling more invigorated than ever.

"No need, just repaying you for the favor you did for me yesterday." She smirked.

"All the same: Thank you." He smiled, his eye being drawn back to where The World Tree still sat, its collection of spindly branches and glowing leaves shimmering in the distance.

Far above, a fair distance ways away, a collection of dark clouds rumbled ominously as they were pushed towards them by the steady wind currents, poised to overtake them very very soon.


	5. Ch:1-5 pt1

Another cold wind whipped through Nia's short shoulder-length hair, carelessly blowing her locks in multiple directions as she stepped across the Maelstrom's deck and headed towards its stern. The late afternoon sun already had been half-swallowed by the horizon, and above, a collection of dark clouds had massed, moving quickly to block out the last of the sun's rays.

They'd reached their destination but a few minutes ago, and rallied all the salvagers in the hold below for preparations to dive. The Maelstrom had stopped and settled into the Cloud Sea.

She could see Dromarch had beaten her to the view already, sticking his head through the guardrail to better see the clouds below. Likely sensing her approach, the Blade turned to meet her.

"My lady." He greeted with a small bow. "Good to see you again."

"Hey, Dromarch." She replied, gently patting him on the head, and joining him in his gazing out over the sea of clouds. "You here to see what they pull up as well?"

"Yes, I'm quite interested." He stated, "If they were so cavalier to drink all that alcohol before diving then they must be very confident in their skills."

"Or they're just a bunch of stupid booze hounds." She remarked, leaning on the railing.

"That may also be true." The Blade admitted, "Though I wouldn't say this was out of the norm for them, considering they were already sobering up when I last checked in."

"So they're responsibly stupid booze hounds."

Dromarch chuckled. "Seems you're in a better mood as well, my lady."

"Hmm? Oh, I guess I am." She said, with a small humorous exhale through her nose.

"May I ask what changed?" He asked, "Did something good happen?"

"Maybe," Nia muttered, her ears perking just a small bit. "I'll tell you about it later…"

"Oh?" He said, somewhat surprised.

"What? I can't be happy sometimes?" She asserted, looking over to find the tiger had smeared a grin across his face. "What's with the dumb look furball?"

"Sorry, my lady, it's just nice to see you in better spirits after so long." He explained.

The Gormotti shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Yeah well… Don't get used to it."

Suspended by one of the ship's cranes, the salvager's diving buoy hung precariously below. It was a hook with what looked like a heavy duty metal grating platform built right above it, with what looked like small blinking lights attached in various places. If she had to guess, it was probably what the salvagers would use to make they're way back up if they couldn't surface for some reason.

Below she could see that salvagers now filed out in groups of three. Each of donned in their full salvaging gear with diving helmet and pressurized suits. For a moment, they both watched the trio stand on the buoy, each gripping the chain before it began to lower them into the restless clouds below, eventually returning free of any passengers.

The two of them watched this process repeat ad nauseum for a while until Nia found her gaze wandering to the clouds above. For some reason, a feeling of unease was growing within her.

"My lady, one of them is waving at us."

"Hm?" Nia looked down to indeed see that a salvager was waving at them though their face was already hidden behind an engaged diving helmet. She would've disregarded them if not for a glint of gold their catching her eye.

Squinting she peered forward, making out more glints of gold-colored metal contrasted by a familiar deep blue of the rest of their suit.

Her stomach rose a little. _Rex…?_

"Ah, that must be Sir Rex." Dromarch pointed out, unintentionally confirming her thought. "He seems quite happy to see you. Perhaps you should wave back?"

She gave the Blade a somewhat skeptical look, but acquiesced, returning his wave with a small one of her own.

At this, Rex put his free hand on his hip his body language suggesting he was happy as the buoy was lowered down into the clouds below.

"I think he appreciated the gesture, my lady," Dromarch commented with what appeared to be a smile.

"He's a kid. Kids like that sort of stuff." She replied casually.

"Even so my lady. It's nice to see you warming up to him."

"Well aren't you a presumptuous tiger." She said while shooting him a wary look, answered only by the tiger's continued smile.

"Hey." A gravelly voice called out.

Careful not to bang their heads together, the pair maneuvered to look behind them to find Sever had approached the both of them.

"Sever? What do you want?" Nia asked, somewhat annoyed.

"You-Know-Who apparently wants to talk to the both of you." He explained, obviously taking no joy in it either.

Nia rose to her feet, dusting herself off. "Did he say about what exactly?" She asked indifferently, feeling Dromarch's worried gaze upon her.

The lizard shook his head. "Ask him yourself," he replied, already walking away.

Both of them exchanged knowing looks and followed after the dower lizard.

* * *

Swimming down below the surface of The Cloud Sea wasn't too different from trying to navigate through water, though unlike water, the world underneath the clouds' surface was a far cry from what most would even consider exploring for fear of what they may find.

That's where salvagers differed.

With specific training, salvagers had the ability to dive into the deep depths without much need for additional equipment aside from a basic tank of oxygen. Add to this that the density of the Cloud Sea was much less than if a person were to say try and dive straight down into a body water, and you had a group of people specially trained for exploring the far reaches of the Cloud Sea with little to no assistance needed.

Having left the light of the surface a number of minutes ago, the trio of salvager's let themselves sink down into the dark depths below, all of them clinging onto large cylindrical objects resembling over sized capsules, with one end truncated.

"This is Eternal Temperance. All comms check-in." A crackle came in over Rex's radio.

"... You do know what temperance means right, Spraine?"

"Can it Kurt." Spraine retorted. "I know what it means, and I can have an ironic name if I want to."

"For that matter, WHY am I stuck with you and Rex here?!" Kurt followed up.

"Because I thought you two hit it off pretty well." He countered. "Now, check-in."

"... Fine. Gold Hunter, reporting."

"..."

"Dreamer, check in." Spraine ordered.

"Why did I get stuck with that name?" Rex complained, rolling his eyes.

"Because that's who you are. 'Dreamer.'" Kurt commented.

"Quit it, Kurt. Man, you always this big of a drama queen when you're sober?" Spraine cut in.

"No..." the other man replied indignantly.

"Good. Now: Dreamer, report."

Rex sighed, "Dreamer reporting." he responded, letting his voice drag on the end.

"Eternal Temperance thanks you all so VERY much for being cooperative." Spraine chirped happily.

"..."

"Alright, boys. We're gonna be coming up on it soon. When we do we've been instructed to attach the inflatables to our designated attach area on the mid-center starboard side of the target." Spraine informed them, turning back to them and pointing at the cylindrical tubes they all carried.

"Copy." Kurt and him both sounded off.

The trio let themselves sink for awhile longer with little to no chatter as flecks of particulate and dim glowing bits floated up and past them while the inky blackness of the depth reached up further and further, surrounding them.

"So who was that girl you were waving at before we dropped, Rex?" Kurt asked, his voice ever jumbled by static.

"Huh?"

"I saw you waving at some girl that was staring at us. I'm guessing you know her?"

"I don't know what you mean. I just saw her watching and I thought I'd wave." Rex answered.

"Dunno man, when she waved back you seemed pretty happy about—"

"Cut the chatter. Head lamps on folks." Spraine interjected, turning himself around and pointing at the side of his helmet.

"... Fine." Kurt gave up, somewhat disappointed.

Internally, Rex breathed a sigh of relief. If they found out he'd been talking to Nia, they'd probably tease him about being her boyfriend or something. Or worse, try to tease her. If that happened then there was no telling WHAT she would do.

Reaching over to the side of his helmet, Rex clicked a button. The pair of headlamps on top of his helmet flickered to life, illuminating what looked like a massive relic of a ship easily five times the size of the Maelstrom.

"Wow… Look at the size of that thing…" Rex murmured, awestruck.

Kurt gave a low whistle. "Knew that we'd be pulling up something big when they brought so many of us but I never thought..."

"Less ogling more swimming, people." Spraine barked, his tone fuzzed by interference, "And stick close. These things don't have much range, especially with all the interference down here."

They were about a thousand peds or so below the surface, meaning their target had likely settled on an outcropping of a dead titan or something else.

The Cloud Sea had been roughly estimated to reach nearly fifty thousand peds deep, while others insisted that it went even deeper than that. Though one all encompassing fact remained true:Anything past the thousand ped mark was pitch black and thus uncharted and nearly unexplorable territory, therefor making it extremely dangerous for the untrained to dive.

For a ship like this to sink and end up here at the borderline was nothing less of a miracle.

Rex, using his legs, propelled himself after Spraine, followed closely by the 'ever-lovable' Kurt Streighbur. As they got closer, the view of the ship became clearer. Rex's eyes drifted to the rear of the ship, just making out what he guessed was the propulsion mechanism because of how it resembled something similar he'd seen on the Ardanian ships. What confused him was the architecture of the ship itself. It was nothing like he'd ever seen before: it's back end almost resembling a crown with its halved cone-like protrusions angled backwards with sloped ends going every which way, while long poles extended near the stern with what looked like decayed rope or some sort of material. Its bow meanwhile had a humongous bowsprit extending out and upwards. By the looks of it the entire ship, it was constructed with metal and not just the hull.

Somehow it reminded him of an over sized casket.

_I wonder which country built this? If there ever was one…_

His thoughts would have to wait as they neared they're objective and swam to the starboard side. Rex could see that other salvagers were finishing up with attaching their inflatables as well, giving their trio small waves before pushing off and swimming back from the vessel.

"Alright boys, you're already familiar with these things. Just attach and get as FAR BACK as possible."

The three of them swam to their designated points. Up close now: the metal of the ship looked nothing like sheet metal, but almost resembled something rock though the seams sprawled every which way across the hull.

What was odder was how little degradation the entire ship seemed to have sustained. Rex could only guess how long it had been down here, though based on how some areas of the hull seemed to have some indigenous plant life growing on it, it had been quite a while.

Just what was this thing even made of? Better yet, what even WAS it? And why did Nia's group even want with this thing in the first place?

With a bit of force, Rex shoved the cylinder against the hull breaking the seal on the adhesive at the end and twisted the capsule, locking it securely against the surface of the hull.

"I'm good here." Kurt announced.

"Me as well." Rex followed up, looking over to where Spraine had just finished up with his.

"Alright, I'm good too guys, the Maelstrom and our other hauling titan will both be dropping the big grabbers in a moment here."

True to his word a pair of large metal claws dropped into view above the wreck. With no time to waste a group six other salvagers swam up to grab either one and place them at either side of the ship. And with a loud echoing mechanical clang they gripped onto either side of the ship.

"Good job all, give this big ol' gal some distance while we set off the inflatables. Follow your guidelines, and we'll all be topside in five."

Putting a fair amount of distance between himself and the sunken ship, Rex looked back.

_How exactly did something like this even sink? _He wondered, looking the entire vessel over. The question had been eating at him.

It didn't take him long to spot what looked like the cause: a massive hole near the rear of the ship, close to the engines, on the underside of the hull.

He couldn't quite make out all the details on it, but something about it immediately stuck out to him as strange. Around the edges of the hole, the metal of the hull looked to have been bent up and outwards not inwards.

It struck him as strange as that would mean that whatever had created the hole either had have come from inside the ship itself, or had the strength to physically pull and create a hole that size.

A subconscious shiver ran through Rex.

"Hey Dream— Y— coming?" Kurt barked, interference spiking.

A light shining down on him from above drew his attention. Looking up, he could make out a hand waving to him. He swam up, the interference lessening.

"Jeez Rex, you're lucky Kurt here was keeping an eye on you," Spraine said, revealing himself to be the source of the light as Rex got close.

"What were you even looking at there?" Kurt asked treading water beside the older man.

"Oh," Rex gestured down to the boat, "I was curious how this even sank in the first place and I saw this hole in the—"

A sudden popping sound cut through the ambiance, followed by a loud prolonged metal creaking echoing all around them. The three of them looked back to see the inflatables had set off and ballooned to ten times their initial size.

Slowly the ship began to rise from its watery resting place with chunks of shimmering sediment and various clumps dirt detaching and falling into the darkness below.

"That's our cue to surface." Spraine said, "You can tell us more about it when we get topside."

Rex wore a crooked frown as he looked back to the ship one last time as it slowly floated upwards aided by the inflatables, Maelstrom, and the additional hauling titan.

With a final prolonged creak from the vessel, Rex began to kick his way to surface to meet the oddity for its resurrection.

* * *

Nia kept a few feet of distance between herself and Malos, wary that he may try something again, as she looked for something to emerge.

Meanwhile, the taller man mirrored her actions but with cold eyes and crossed arms, as if he was waiting for something rather than looking.

_What's the point of dragging me over here if you aren't going to say anything?_

Frankly, by this point she was beginning to grow impatient and annoyed that she'd been dragged over here by the oaf's Blade just so she could stand here and count the seconds.

She was getting ready to walk away when a splash off the side caught her attention.

From below a massive shadow in the clouds appeared. From the shadows rose a humongous ship, it's bow piercing the surface first with its elongated bowspirit followed by the rest of it. It creaked somewhat as it lost momentum and leveled itself out hitting the surface of the Cloud Sea with a dull thunk.

"Whoa… It's massive." Nia gasped, finding herself in awe.

"Don't get caught up in the sights." Malos warned, "Remember what we're here for."

Nia glared at him, eliciting a callous one in return.

Across the way, salvagers were already beginning to grapple and launch themselves up and onto the deck of the ancient ship from the clouds below.

The crackle of a speaker below deck could be heard, "Object is secure. Proceed to the second phase." the voice announced loudly.

"Let's go. They'll have the boarding bridge lowered in a moment." Malos said mechanically, already walking with long strides. Sever working quickly to catch up.

"Fine." She muttered, following him at a healthy distance with Dromarch silently in tow.

* * *

Their walk was wordless and brisk. Nia found herself with an exclusive view of Malos' back for the majority of it. Now having crossed the boarding bridge and onto the oversized coffin, the previously loud chatter of the Salvagers seemed to quiet into hushed muttering with their squad's arrival.

"Nia," Malos said, turning to her his eyes still callous. "I'm more than certain you dislike me."

She raised an eyebrow.

"So I'll respect your intelligence by keeping this short." He continued, "Since Jin is not here, I'm your superior while on this job. That means you'll follow every order I give, do we have an understanding?"

For a moment she had half-a-mind to spit out another insult but held her tongue. Instead, she nodded an acknowledgment, respecting that he'd at least tried to talk to her like she was a person for once.

His posture loosened just a tad. "I'm going to check with the salvager's captain on the status of their operation."

"Yep." She mumbled, "Do what you have to."

He gave gave her a sharp look before walking away, parting the scattered groupings of salvagers as he passed through, Sever per usual following as an afterthought.

A slipping of wind passed the ancient ship by, as the rumbles of thunder could be heard echoing in the distance.

Satisfied that she was no longer within earshot of Malos, Nia sighed.

Dromarch chuffed. "Well that was—"

"Yeah, I know. Different." She answered.

It was easy to tell but there was something different in the way he acted. He seemed more serious, focused. More than likely because of the job, but it was still strange for him to take such a turn despite it all.

"He's probably just doing it to score points with Jin." Nia supposed.

Dromarch stepped out in front of her. "Either way my lady, if he's willing to cooperate I'd oblige him for the moment."

"Yeah yeah." She replied dismissively, taking a good look around.

There were a number of salvagers still grappling up on to the deck at this point. The ones that were there when Malos and her had arrived were still kept their distance from her. As her gaze passed over them, the salvagers gave her frigid looks and lowered their voices to whispers. More than likely gossiping about her.

_Typical… They see something they don't understand, so they avoid it like its got poison in it or something._

An ugly feeling rolled around in her gut. If there was anywhere she'd rather be: here wasn't one of them.

From the corner of her vision another trio of salvagers launched themselves up onto the deck and landed with exact precision. Among them, a flash of blue immediately caught her attention.

* * *

"I'm telling you it's strange!" Rex exclaimed, as he unfastened his helmet with an audible hiss as it depressurized.

"And I'm telling you that I believe you, but there is NO WAY that something could've been done from the inside," Kurt argued, removing his own helmet.

"My money's on it being a huge Lexos." Spraine commented, doing the same.

Rex gave a frustrated huff, clipping his helmet to his back.

Kurt poked him on the shoulder. "Hey, Rex."

"What is it?" He asked, turning back towards the somewhat older man.

He pointed to a more than familiar gormotti girl standing alone with her Blade, "Isn't that the girl from before?" Kurt said.

"Uh…" He drawled, noticing how she averted her eyes when he looked at her.

"She was looking at you till I pointed." He jostled Rex's shoulder. "You didn't tell me she was a Driver, man…"

"H-hey quit it!" Rex yanked the man's hand off his shoulder.

"So you like your women dangerous huh?" Kurt teased.

Rex clapped one of his hands over his face. "Oh my…"

"She's pretty cute too, you should go talk to her."

"Kurt…" Spraine warned, stepping in.

The younger man looked to the older one innocently. "I'm just trying to get our boy Rex involved!"

"He's already got enough on his plate. He doesn't need you adding more."

Kurt put his hands on his sides. "Says the guy who embarrassed him in the first place!"

Rex silently removed himself from the pair's company. Ironically enough, he was sort of taking Kurt's advice and heading towards Nia.

At this point he was more than a bit fed up with the teasing, even if he was able to ignore it thanks to Nia's previous encouragement. That and if he talked to anyone else they'd probably just annoy him further trying to ask him what his dream was.

If they wanted to talk, let them talk. All he wanted to do was get a breath of fresh air.

A small smile appeared on his lips as he approached. Meanwhile the Gormotti girl was giving him a wary sidelong stare.

"Hey, Nia." He casually greeted her.

"Oh uh, hey." Nia responded shortly, surprised that he was even talking to her.

He glanced down to her Blade; Dromarch was his name, right? "Hello, Dromarch." he greeted the Blade with an added little wave.

The Tiger seemed to be more composed than his Driver, and bowed. "It's good to see you again Sir Rex, I must say it was quite impressive to see you and the other salvagers to actually raise this ancient ship up from the depths!"

Rex cracked a toothy grin. "It was nothing really. You should be thanking the others, me and my group were just putting the finishing touches on." He downplayed.

"Rex are you sure you should even be talking to me right now?" Nia interrupted. "Everyone else is looking at you."

He peered around, and indeed, they were staring at him.

"Eh." He shrugged, "Even if I didn't, they'd still bother me about things. You're probably the only one here that probably wouldn't tease me."

Nia seemed to take his words into consideration while Dromarch looked between the both of them with a small bit of confusion.

"Nia, we're ready anytime to go in." A familiar voice dragged nearby.

The three of them looked with a mixture of anxiety and dread to find Malos standing not but a few feet away.

"Rex, leave. Now." Nia pleaded with whispers, her eyes wide.

Malos' cold pale green eyes swapped between the both of them, quickly pinning themselves on Rex exclusively. "We meet again, kid." He said, a devilish grin spreading across his lips as he approached them.

The sight of the man's arrogant expression made his face screw up into a scowl. "Glad you remembered me this time." He spoke passively, thinly hiding his less than friendly feeling of the man.

"Rex, please. Just leave before—"

"I seem to remember you asking me to apologize to our mutual acquaintance: Nia, here." He gestured to the Gormotti, who was now staring at Rex looking rather mortified.

Rex's scowl deepened.

"And then telling me to take it easy on her." Malos recounted, "Am I not wrong?"

Rex let his silence speak for him, continuing to stare daggers at the man. Nia looked rather pale, as another rush of wind swept past them.

"So how about this?" He popped a finger in Rex's direction. "You're with coming with us for this job."

Rex's scowl fell apart, replaced with surprise. "Huh?!"

"You CANNOT be SERIOUS." Nia growled, stepping between the two.

Malos raised a skeptical eyebrow, "I'll assure you, I am VERY serious Nia. Besides, you look like you need the backup anyway."

"But he's just a kid!"

"A kid who we know can fight." He retorted.

Nia suddenly went quiet. Rex glanced down and found her hands had tightly wound into quivering fists at either side of herself.

"I'm glad we have an understanding. Now let's get going, Sever's already getting to work inside." He flashed a short grin before walking away.

Rex watched Nia, still shivering all over, not moving.

With a nervous swallow he eventually found his voice. "Um, hey Nia? I'm—"

"Shut up." She hissed not bothering to look at him, her whole body tensing up.

Rex's mouth clamped shut. _Ok Rex, bad move._

He looked over to Dromarch with a look that begged for help. Thankfully for him, the Blade took the hint.

"My lady…?" Dromarch tried this time, padding forwards to her side.

The gormotti glanced over to her Blade.

"Are you alright?"

She didn't respond for a moment before she suddenly turned to Rex. She didn't look too happy judging by the frown on her lips, how her brow was deeply creased, and how intense her stare was.

Rex clenched his jaw, waiting for the inevitable fist to come careening into his face.

To his surprise, she instead let her eyes fall to the ground, and from there shook her head while letting out a prolonged sigh as her hands slowly unfurled themselves.

"Umm… hey Nia?"

She didn't bother responding as she knelt down and stroked her Blade's head.

"I'm sorry that I— Agh, nevermind it's all my fault that this happened."

Nia suddenly got back to her feet, staring at him again, markedly less pissed now.

"Rex."

He jumped at the sound of his name. "Ah— y-yes?"

"When we go in there, I want you stuck to me like glue. No wandering off, alright?" She told him, her sharp bronze eyes never leaving his face.

"Oh! Um, alright." He responded, averting his own eyes from her intense gaze.

"Alongside us, Malos and Sever are going to be the first and only ones going down and clearing, so that means anything we encounter:" She swapped a pointed finger between them, "We're our own backup."

Rex did his best to put on a confident smile. "I guess I'll have to do my best then."

She gave him a sad smile, clearly understanding his apprehension, her eyes softening now as she nodded in kind. "That's all that I ask."

_Maybe she won't kill me today after all._

Off in the distance lightning struck, followed up with the delayed booms of thunder following shortly after.

* * *

They followed after Malos going down the length of the ship's main deck. At the far end a pair of thick metal doors lay on their ends on the ground. Evidently, the salvager's had been at work while they were waiting. Inside the said doorway, a short dimly lit stairway awaited them dipping downwards.

Nia wrinkled her nose as a damp musty smell reached up to greet them. For some reason, a sense of dread began to linger over her.

Descending slowly, they took each step carefully until they reached the bottom where it opened up into what appeared to be an atrium with a pair of stairs on either side of it while an oblong column hid what looked another stairway heading upwards behind it.

Standing on the far end of the atrium, near the column stood Malos with no Sever in sight. He looked particularly impatient.

"Nice of you to join us," His eyes quickly rolling from her over onto Rex, "and the kid didn't chicken out either. Good."

"You didn't give him much of a choice." She remarked, "And while we're talking about people showing up: Where's Sever?"

He crossed his arms, a derisive smile on his face. "Upstairs. I was about to suggest we join him."

"Let us then. Don't let me hold you back." She said, already walking past him with Rex and Dromarch in tow.

Malos snorted with amusement as they passed him by. "Cute. Real cute."

Climbing the stairs turned out to be a bigger undertaking than expected as the stairs ended up taking them up two flights and spitting them into a room lined with various unknown machines. A few of them still appeared to have a number of lights blinking on them. The back wall meanwhile appeared to have been shuttered behind a particularly large piece of metal.

Sever was at the far end looking over what appeared to be some consoles with dimly lit screens, tapping a sharp claw on his jaw.

"Wow…" Rex gasped, slowly walking into the center of the room, gazing around like he'd just walked into a candy shop.

Nia meanwhile walked around observing the various dials and instruments with half-lidded interest. Honestly, she wasn't much of a techwizard herself, but from what she could guess it looked like a navigation room of some or probably the helm of the ship, judging by the various rotted through chairs and seats piled into one corner of the room.

Dromarch meanwhile, shorter than either of them, was content to sit by the stairwell and observe, and keep watch for anything that could ambush them.

"Any luck?" Malos asked, as he surmounted the stairs, and brought up the rear.

The lizard shook its head. "No, but the rest of the stuff here seems to be working for the most part. We're just lucky this area wasn't flooded when the ship sank."

Malos gave a small huff. "Let me see." He grunted, joining the Blade at the console, scrutinizing the images on the screen.

She watched him lean in closer using his right arm to support himself against it while rubbing his chin with the other. "Hmm… odd. I can't make any sense of it either." He muttered, the dim glow of the screen illuminating his eyes a small bit.

Nia trudged over and peered through the gap in between the man's out-stretched arm at the screen. Indeed, the screen glowed softly with lines of symbols and shapes. None of which she recognized.

"My lady," Dromarch nudged her, "I think Sir Rex has found something." He spoke quietly.

Nia shifted her focus over to Rex, who had his attention enraptured by another dimly lit console on the left wall.

She shuffled over and peeped over his shoulder. "What'cha looking at?" She asked, squinting to get a better look. The screen displayed what looked like an image with a collection of green squares and rectangles of various shades with what appeared to be more of the lines of symbols and shapes displayed within each one. "What's all that?"

Rex hummed for moment, "Give a minute…" as he experimentally hit one of the buttons below the monitor. "I'm usually pretty good with machines, but this is the first time I've seen anything like this."

The image moved to the right a little bit showing another set of yet darker green squares.

"Huh… Can you do that again?" Nia asked.

Rex obliged and hit the button a few more times, seeing the block fade into the color of pitch.

"Weird…"

"Hang on, let me…" Rex scanned the other buttons around the monitor, Nia joining in as well.

From what they both could tell the button Rex had been hitting were part of a set of four, with three others to the left, up, and down forming a cross. A little further over she noticed a pair of two more buttons sitting side by side with a dial of some sort nearby.

It didn't take them long to figure out that that the buttons in the cross shape moved the image in four different directions depending on which of the buttons were pushed. Though all they could tell by moving the image that aside from what they'd seen, certain squares and rectangles were shaded brighter green while a majority of the rest were either dim or dark.

"Here, let's try one of the two over there." He said, hitting the left button which caused the screen to change suddenly.

A readout of different bars scrolled down the screen, many of them appeared to be relatively small on the screen save for a select few which scrolled farther and farther across the screen, with one in particular scrolling nearly the length of the screen.

Beneath the bars were more collections of symbols.

"What do you suppose it means?" Nia asked.

Rex squinted, trying to somehow decipher the text. "I'm not really all that certain..." He muttered. "Maybe it's a list of something?"

"You think?" Nia questioned sarcastically, her mouth crooked as she tried her best to translate them as well.

It was then that an idea popped into her head. She turned her head to the tiger. "Hey, Dromarch you can read old texts right?"

The tiger nodded and padded over. They both gave him room to get up on his hind legs and use his front ones to balance himself against the wall. He stared at the screen for a minute or so before he hummed in understanding.

"These are energy readings for the entire vessel." He used his black nose to motion to one of them. "This one here reads: 'Loading Bay' and it apparently has some power being supplied to it."

"That Blade can read this stuff?" Malos barked, looking up from the console he'd almost started burrowing holes through with his eyes.

"Apparently," Nia responded.

"Well, have him come over here when he's finished so he can make himself useful."

"Dromarch is MORE than useful." she stated icily, "I'd appreciate you would give him that level of respect as well."

"Oh! Dromarch, how about this one?" Rex quickly asked, interrupting their bickering. Using the bottom 'cross' button he moved the list down to the one area that was apparently being supplied the most power to.

Again the Blade, mulled over the shapes and symbols, giving a disconcerted huff. "Its syntax is strange, and the words could mean a great many things, but I think it says something to the effect of: 'Prelude to Origin'." He said, with a healthy amount of uncertainty in his translation.

"Where is that area located?" Malos asked, walking over briskly and leaning in to look as well. Dromarch meanwhile slipped down to all fours, and backed away to give the man room.

Nia eyed him carefully. "What's it to you? Just a moment ago it seemed like you didn't care."

"Be quiet." He said, then pointing to Rex. "Kid, can you show us where that area is?"

She could tell that he didn't appreciate still being called 'kid' by the subtle shift in his features, but he still obliged the older man.

Clicking the leftmost button again caused the screen to flicker back to the squares and rectangles again, putting them exactly on the brightest lit square with the matching string of text.

"There. Apparently."

"It's too close, zoom it out." Malos ordered.

"Zoom? What's 'zooming it out' mean?"

Malos sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Forget it. Just... try turning that dial over there or something. Make the picture on there smaller. "

Skeptically, Rex reached and slowly turned the dial to the left, and much to their surprise, the squares and rectangles became smaller and an overall image of what looked like a map of the ship came into view.

"So it's a cross-section of the whole ship, then." Rex exclaimed. "Look: We're up here." he pointed to the subtly lit square near the top of the ship. "And… That place is way down there." He dragged his finger down the screen to the brightly lit square at the exact center of the ship.

"Then that means that room is more than likely where what were looking for is located."

Rex turned from the monitor to Malos, "What is it that you're looking for anyway?"

Malos pointed in Nia's direction.

"Why me— Oh why do I bother…" She turned to Rex somewhat exasperated. "Apparently, we're looking for a weapon of some sort."

"A weapon? Like a gun or something?"

Nia shrugged her shoulders, "I've asked myself but," She stabbed a thumb in Malos' direction, "Jagoff over 'ere and everyone else just says—"

"Need-to-know basis." Malos interrupted, "And you don't need to know."

She glowered at him, letting a deep exhale out through her nose. "So yeah… Anyway, how are we going to get there exactly?" Nia asked, hoping to get back on task.

Rex turned back towards the screen, scanning it up and down. Malos meanwhile continued observing with interest as well.

"Hmm… Well… in my experience with most shipwrecks, they're made into homes by whatever finds them down in the Cloud Sea." He looked back to them with a worried smirk. "Problem is that this thing was more than if not a thousand peds below the surface in the pitch on the edge of the abyss, so I don't rightly KNOW what we might run into."

Something clicked in Nia's brain. "So it's really dark down there?" She asked quizzically.

Rex nodded with affirmation.

"So that means whatever lives down there doesn't see or like light all much?" She pointed to the colored squares on the screens. "Power has been on since we got here right? So maybe these areas could have lights or something powered in the area we could use to brighten them up. "

Rex, Dromarch, and Sever — who'd discreetly joined their conversation at some point — nodded while Malos crossed his arms.

"So that means those areas have likely been avoided by the uh… 'things'" The word gave her chills as she said it. "probably living deeper down in this thing."

Malos stepped up to monitor nearly bowling Rex out of the way. "Nia, have your Blade memorize the names of these areas so we don't get lost." He ordered.

Nia narrowed her eyes at him, and looked to her companion, "Go on." gesturing towards the jagoff. Dromarch nodded and padded over and propped himself up on the wall.

Quickly Malos traced a path through each of areas with some amount of color in them."So then we go down here, then here, over there, down again, over again, and then we're right next to it at this point." He ended with his finger in an area next to the brightest colored box.

"Mid-deck, Living Quarters 1-10, Living Quarters 11-20, Hold #1, Loading Bay, System Control Room, and then Engine Room." The Blade said, repeating the names of the areas Malos' passed his finger over.

"Oh! And one more thing:" Dromarch added, "According to this: the ship we're on is called 'The Ark' evidently enough."

"The Ark…" Rex repeated. "Huh, now that I think about it: it does kinda did look like an ark."

* * *

Following a few minutes of memorization on all their parts, they were off.

Passing down and through the atrium again, the group finally descended down one of the staircases. As they did the familiar musty smell flowed past Nia's nose; in response, her ears perked up listening for any noises around them.

As it turned out the pair of staircases connected into one as they rounded a turn in them putting them onto the bridge's mid-deck, which appeared to be just a small circular bowl with a hallway seemingly burrowed into it.

Looking around, the architecture on the walls was strange, with soft fluorescent patterns lining the tops of the metal walls, which shimmered continuously, while others had dark blue hewn lines traced into the various arches and pillars that lined the walls. The ceiling meanwhile appeared to have been built with a concave dip upwards, like what you'd find in one of Indol's grandiose chapels.

"Why do I suddenly feel like we're heading into some overblown tomb..." Nia commented grimly.

Rex on the other hand didn't appear fazed at all and rather awed instead. She watched him approach one of the pillars and run a hand over it trying to figure out how it was built. "These lights... it's like they were somehow built right into the metal itself."

Malos, meanwhile, didn't seem interested in any of this maintaining his pace as he continued to move forward, whilst dragging Sever along, down the hallway.

Almost having to pry the boy away, she managed to get Rex moving again and keep pace with the taller Driver. Their steps eventually slowed as they caught up, allowing them to start taking in their surroundings again.

If they had to guess they were already into the Living Quarters portions of the ship. The air seemed still if not stagnant. Everything was silent except for their own footsteps, echoing off the walls back at them. Likely, this area of the ship escaped flooding when it sank as well. Thus, nothing from the Cloud Sea could have made its way up here, or even stayed and lived very long. Everything had mostly sat and aged.

To say it creeped Nia out would be an understatement. Of course, she wouldn't let anyone know that lest she be teased.

Eventually, the hallway began to narrow into a singular corridor, forcing them to proceed forwards single file. Being cramped like this wasn't to her liking in the slightest, that and it didn't help that the lighting in this section of the ship was dim as well, meaning that even if it was just a single corridor they had to feel the walls. A number of times her hands would occasionally leave the wall and pass over an open space, likely one of the doorways to the various living quarters here. Each time it would happen she'd hold her breath, almost expecting a disembodied hand to reach out and yank her into the darkness.

They would've checked into each doorway, but most of the living area were more like extended barracks, with near-identical layouts for each with a few spans of bunks inside each, leaving a lot to be desired. There were hastily piled and rotted chairs from the helm, the bunks were all but frames with decaying strips of cloth and other material hanging from them.

The lighting had grown dim enough that both Sever and Dromarch's ether crystals had begun to create a sufficient glow in the dark when a distant chittering from down the corridor made them come to a dead stop in their tracks.

"What was that?" Rex shivered, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Dunno." she answered quietly back her eyes searching in the darkness.

"Probably the 'local wildlife' you mentioned, kid." Malos guessed softly. "Weapons at the ready."

"But we're in a corridor!" Nia hissed, "We're just going to hit each other if we do that!"

The group waited another minute in collective silence, listening intently, their only companions the sound of their own breathing.

Malos took a step forward, "Sounds like it's gone for the moment. Let's take advantage of that and keep moving. If they get us here, we'll just be sitting ducks." He slowly continued on his merry way.

Nia breathed in and deeply exhaled, trying to calm herself. Malos was right, if they got caught here they might as well be dead meat. She tried her best to seem composed as she turned back to Rex.

From what she could tell in the low light the boy looked no worse for wear, if not a bit jittery. "You and Dromarch doing alright back there?" she asked.

Rex nodded silently, while Dromarch mirrored him.

They probably couldn't see her face that well, but she still cracked a half-smile. "Good, let's keep up with the oaf then."

* * *

It didn't take them long to catch up to Malos, Sever and him appeared to apparently have stopped to wait for them.

"Didn't think you'd wait for us," Nia whispered cheekily as they approached.

"Don't get the wrong idea." He replied darkly gesturing to a strange pale crustacean corpse on the ground.

It looked like it had stood at about knee's height with a carapace like you'd normally see on any crustacean with for what appeared to be frayed gills near it's back. Four large, now long calcified and hollowed, long sharp dagger-esk pointed legs were placed at the four equal corners of its body, with what appeared to be two scythe-like limbs on its front coupled with scissor shaped mandibles and four holes where eyes likely had been.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the creature. "What is it?"

Malos shrugged. "Don't know. It was already dead when we found it." He gestured to Rex, "You know what this thing is kid?"

Rex joined in looking the creature up and down, poking his head past Nia to get a better look.

"I think that's a Lysaat..." Rex posed after some deliberation. "But it's an albino. Normally, they usually have some sort of pigment in their shells..."

Nia felt her skin beginning to crawl the more she looked at the corpse.

"I don't see any sort of wounds or damage to its carapace, and it didn't die due to lack of air since they can breath oxygen normally or through their gills," Rex pointed out, "so I'm guessing it might've died of natural causes."

"There's something bothering me though," The boy motioned to each of the legs and front limbs, "It's normal for Lysaat's limbs to be extremely sharp since they usually hunt by stabbing and feeding on smaller fleshy prey and the like. But," He used his finger to point to several extremely small holes on the tips of the legs, "they don't usually have those holes there."

Malos bent down, and with a swift yank, pulled off one of the Lysaat's legs rolling it over in his hand while Sever provided some light from his core crystal on to it. They watched him run the pad of one of his fingers over the small holes, which were no bigger than a pin. He brought his finger into the light, revealing it had picked up some crumbling purple dust.

He looked it over experimentally, before bringing it to his lips and licking some of it, eliciting a look of disgust from Nia and Rex. The moment was short-lived though as he immediately began spitting it out, scrapping what was assumedly left off his tongue and the inside of his mouth.

"Why the hell did you do that?!" Nia buzzed.

"Bleck, ugh… I had a hunch, so I wanted to confirm it."

She cocked an eyebrow. "And?"

"It's a neurotoxin, specifically a paralytic judging by how my inside of my left cheek feels slightly numb," Malos responded, hocking a loogie or two. "This stuff gets in your bloodstream, you'll probably be dead within fifteen minutes."

"You going to be ok?" Sever asked, speaking up for the first time.

For a short moment Malos looked a little surprised to hear the Blade worry for him, before he regained his composure. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I don't have any cuts in my mouth so I should be good. Even if I did, Nia would just fix me up. Right?"

She crossed her arms, glaring at the taller man.

He gave her a cheeky grin and he promptly dropped the leg, causing it to clatter on the metal floor, sending a reverberating echo down either end of the hallway. "Looks like things just got even better, c'mon." Malos continued marshaling forwards, while he quickly wiping the remaining dust on to a nearby wall.

Nia glanced back at the boy and Blade following her. Rex looked a bit shaken. While she knew she should be grateful for the information, it still annoyed her that Malos had chosen to do it in such a blunt fashion.

* * *

Following some more walking, the pulsing lights on the walls eventually began to brighten, again signaling they were exiting from the cramped corridor.

True to what they'd expected, the group found themselves exiting and entering at the top of a very large boxed room. Luckily, it appeared this section of the ship was getting enough power causing the lights in the walls to illuminate a majority of it. It had a number of catwalks bolted and secured to the edges and a couple others spanning across the room, though a few of them looked to have collapsed. At the bottom, there was a large grated floor built over what looked like an endless dark abyss below. Couple all that with how there was a number of cargo boxes and crates scattered around it was a fair guess to say this was Hold #1.

It would've been like a breath of fresh air too if not for the smell of rot and decay that immediately assaulted their noses.

"Augh! It stinks!" Nia groaned, clamping a gloved hand over her nose as her eyes began to water. "Where the hell did this stench come from!?"

"This area was probably one of the few that was previously flooded before it was raised to the surface." Malos responded, casually holding his nose as well. "Look: see how there is this glowing plant crap hanging off the metal here?"

Taking a look around, the man was right. The room's various walls and catwalks looked to have nearly been decorated in the luminescent plant life.

_That stuff is probably why it smells so bad. _Nia blinked away a few more tears. _Dromarch's probably got it the worst…_

She looked down at the Blade standing at her side, his nose running like a faucet at the moment and his eyes were looking increasingly bloodshot.

"You ok big guy?" She asked nasally.

The blade looked up to her with a pained look as a drizzle of snot pooled on the floor below.

Nia smiled and patted his head encouragingly. "We'll get through here as quickly as possible."

Meanwhile, she noticed Rex looked a bit distraught, looking over the entire room, scrutinizing it heavily.

"Something up?" Nia called over to him.

"O-oh it's nothing." He said with a start.

"You sure?"

Rex nodded, idly trying to wave away the stench from himself as he followed after Malos.

_Something is bothering him. _Nia peered around the room once more. Aside from the occasional creaks and sounds of the ship shifting ever so slightly, the room was quiet, no sounds or signs of any animal life, and importantly: not a peep of chittering.

Even so she resolved to remain vigilant, following after the three as they began to trek across the slowly decaying catwalks.

Nia was sure that they would be rickety and would result in being the most of their troubles from this room. Though, as it would turn out, the catwalks themselves were more stable than they would appear.

The real problem came from the sections that had already collapsed.

Malos informed them that their goal was another long hallway located on the far side of the room raised above the metal grated floor by a pair of staircases covered in more mossy looking plantlife.

Normally, they would have easily been able to use the catwalks to circumvent the use of this staircase. Unfortunately for them, this was anything but normal, as a huge gap separated them from their destination.

Malos held onto the railing of the catwalk. "No good, if we try to run and jump we'll likely slip and break our necks on this green plant shit."

"And if we got rid of it?" Rex proposed, gripping tightly to the guard railing.

Malos gave the boy a sidelong glance while judging the distance between them and the other side. "Even if we could jump it we'd probably cause the other side to collapse and drop us."

He looked back the way they came and past them. "We'll probably have to go down below, across the bottom of the room then."

Nia glanced down to the grating below. That ever so present darkness even more ominous now, like it would reach up and snatch them all.

It seemed childish when she thought about it, but considering that 'thing' they'd found earlier, her mind couldn't help but imagine a whole nest of them just waiting for the moment they fell through and into their deadly clutches.

Malos pointed past them to a nearby staircase leading down the grated floor below. "There, we'll use that." And he traced his steps back from the edge.

Carefully, they all backed up, making sure to have a hold onto their footing, as they made their way over and down to the bottom of the hold.

With a metallic clink, they all stepped one after another onto the grated floor. Nia, being the second last one to do so, followed closely by Dromarch, was doing her best to not look down into the black below for too long.

"Is there something wrong, my lady?" Dromarch asked discreetly, noticing where her gaze was directed.

"Oh. Uh, no. Just a bit anxious is all." She muttered, reflexively swallowing while making sure she still had her weapons —a pair of twin ring with bladed edges— hung around her waist.

"As am I." He admitted, gazing into the darkness below as well. "If this area was flooded there may very well be some weak sections of the floor here that could collapse without warning."

Her eyes widened with the realization. "Great, just had to point that out as well." She grumbled, shooting the Blade a biting glare while he returned a sheepish grin.

_Now where's the kid?_ Nia thought, scanning for Rex.

She found him standing a fair distance away, staring off again, more than likely scrutinizing the room again. Along with this, she noticed Malos and Sever were still moving full speed, having crossed to the other side of the room with no incident and climbed the stairs now looking down at them from the top of them.

"Hurry up you lot! We've still got further to go!" He called out to them impatiently, before continuing forward and out of sight.

_Guy doesn't know when to slow down… _Nia grit her teeth in annoyance.

"My lady, if it's any help:" Dromarch said, pulling her attention. "I noticed Sir Malos and Sever had preferred to walk on the grating near the cargo in this area. So those it stands to reason that those sections should be more stable than the other areas."

She quickly picked out the areas where the various storage containers sat, arranged almost randomly around the area.

_Alright, just have to follow the leader. The big dumb stupid leader._

"Rex!" She barked giving the boy a small jump.

He popped his head in her direction.

"Remember what I told you before." Crooking a finger towards herself.

"Sorry, just got lost in thought."

"You'll have time for that later when we're safe." She replied watching him plod his way over to her. "Stick near the boxes while your at it. Don't want you to fall through."

Rex nodded, while keeping a tight path near the numerous scattered cargo boxes.

He'd nearly returned to her when a messy series of clicks echoed through the room.

Nia's ears shot up, and Rex froze in place.

A familiar chittering hit her eardrums and Nia's heart sank.

"Rex—"

A pale form skittered into view atop the storage container, its four red eyes fixated hungrily on the boy.

"—MOVE!" she yelled, breaking into a dead sprint yanking one of the twin rings from her waist.

The boy dove sideways without question as the creature pounced forwards and careened through the air.

In a single motion she swung one of the rings downwards as a burst of blue energy enveloped herself and her weapon. From them a razor sharp slice of water shot out and sailed through the air impacting and cleaving the creature in two.

Sounds of metal shearing itself screamed in her ears as Nia skidded on the slimy floor to a stop, the two halves of the creature flying harmlessly past her.

A collection of pings and snaps sang in her ears as she just turned to see the grating below Rex tilt itself forty-five degrees downwards.

The boy didn't even have time to yelp as he was pulled down towards the inky blackness below.

"No!" Her body moved on its own as she leapt forward, the metal battering her torso as she landed, her outstretched free hand catching and clamping like a vice onto his leg.

"My lady!"

Suddenly she was being pulled in as well, the slimy metal like slick ice beneath her. Nia tried to stop her momentum, using her ring to hopefully bite into the metal, answered only with a uselessly clang as it bounced off the solid surface.

She stared helplessly as the dark unknown reached out and sucked both Rex and her in, depositing them into the open air.

They tumbled for half a second before impacting with a dull slap onto something wet and squishy.

For a moment, the world around her swirled through her vision before it coalesced into a solid image. "Oogh…" Nia groaned, slowly sitting up as she carefully rubbed at her stinging back and sore chest.

"My lady! Sir Rex! Are you ok?!" Dromarch called fearfully from above.

She squinted and looked up seeing the Blade carefully poking its head over the edge.

"Yeah, I'm ok!" she coughed, slowly standing up and waving a hand up towards him.

A painful inhale or two near her drew the girl's attention. A few steps away Rex sat, a hand massaging his shoulder.

She was on him within a second. "Hey, you alright?" Nia asked, already helping him to get to his feet.

"Y-yeah I'm good. I just landed on my shoulder is all." He said, carefully rolling the arm to make sure it had full movement.

"Rex is good too!" She called out to the tiger watching carefully above.

"Do you want me to come down there my lady?" Dromarch asked, obviously worried for both hers and Rex's safety.

"No, we're alright. For now, just stay there and we'll find a way out."

Looking around, there wasn't much to see in the limited light, she could just barely make out about five to ten feet in front of her. Most she could see was just more of the strange fleshy floor they'd fallen onto.

"Hey Nia?"

The boy looked up from the floor, his face deathly pale.

"Yeah?" She asked now extremely worried.

"Not to scare you but I think we're in a—"

A series of chitters from behind made the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention.

_Oh _ _ **shit** _ _._

"Rex. Get your weapon." She whispered, wielding her ring's twin in her other hand.

He complied without a word, his hand fumbling to get the sword from his back while keeping his eyes affixed on the creature she assumed was behind her.

"Dromarch, get Malos over here now." Nia, calmly as she could, asked her Blade. "Don't argue, and DO NOT come down here."

The Blade didn't answer. Hopefully that meant he was agreeing or had already left.

Another series of chitters echoed in front of her, and four ruby-red eyes shimmered at her through the darkness.

Her hands experimentally flexed their grip on the rings.

"There's one behind you as well." She whispered in Rex's ear, making him to grip his sword all the tighter. "Only attack when they do, don't leave my side, and don't try to help me."

She could feel him lingering over the last direction, but he still nodded.

Seconds ticked by slowly as she stared the eyes down. Then…

The creature rushed with a screech, and furious clicks, heading right for her. Its eyes flew towards her through the black then suddenly jumped, almost gliding, as its pale shell glinted in the limited light.

She side-stepped and countered bringing one of her rings down and slicing through its shell and into the soft flesh beneath.

Dark blue blood sprayed from the mortal wound as another screech nearby was swiftly ended by a decisive crunch.

More red shimmered in her peripherals as another pale form charged her, both its forearms fiercely swiping at her. She backed up a step or so and used her the hard leather of her boot to protect and sneak her foot under and kicked it upwards.

Another ring followed upwards and bisected it clean down the middle.

A squelch or two to her right drew her attention immediately revealing another pair of the creatures rushing at her.

_More?_

She held her ground as they wildly stabbed at the air with their legs. A mistimed stab on their part gave her an opening and she swung cleaving the ends of the attacking legs off.

In their confusion, Nia speedily brought both her rings down on top of them spurting more blue blood onto the arms of her jumpsuit and her face.

Rex was to her left performing an impromptu golf club swing on a particular Lysaat when she saw one rush his blindside.

She bounded over and caught the creature in the side, pushing her ring through its shell like it was butter.

"Thanks!"

"Just be careful!" She responded, noticing another preparing to jump them while two others circled around behind them. "Handle that one and I'll get these two going around back."

"Right." He wiped dark blue blood from his brow.

She shifted her feet to a stable position, rings held at the ready, keeping an eye on the murderous eight red eyes.

Then another eight appeared.

_Oh boy._

A unified screech rang out from them as they jumped at her in unison. She danced backward out of their range, bumping into Rex as he finished kicking away one he'd just crushed.

"Rex!?"

She didn't even blink as he quickly rounded about her and swung his sword like an oversized club at four approaching Lysaats, sweeping them up and flinging them into the darkness with a satisfying crunch as they more than likely hit a wall.

"What did I tell you about helping me!" She hissed.

"I know! And you would've gotten— "His eyes suddenly widening, "—Behind you!"

Nia whipped her head in time to see one had snuck up and trying to take a stab at her legs.

_Oh f—_

Rex charged and skewered it down the length of his sword, many of its pointed legs still flailing.

Somewhat shaken by the close call, she barely noticed another one creeping up on her side. Hastily, she made a feint to the left then lept to the right while sinking her ring into its backside.

"Aaagh! Get Off!"

Her stomach dropped, whirling to see one of them had jumped and latched on Rex's back, trying to sink a leg into his neck.

Nia grit her teeth, her anger flaring, and charged; doing a rapid twist kick, she catapulted the assaulting creature. "Bastard!" She sunk a ring into its head as it collided with the ground, verily decapitating it.

"You alright?!" She yelled at him.

"M-my weapon! It got stuck and I couldn't—" He stumbled, trying to get the still flailing creature off of his sword.

A flash of white leaped down into the pit with them. "My lady! I'm here!

"Dromarch?!" Nia yelled, as a string of blue energy connected the both of them.

One of the lysaats tried lunging for Dromarch only to be sliced into thirds by his long claws. Not to be deterred by its comrade's death, another lysaat charged prompting the tiger to summon a torrent of water from seemingly nowhere that sent the creature rocketing back into the darkness.

"I did what you asked, now I'm here to assist!" The Blade roared with energy, the string of blue brightening to a exotic green.

A surge of energy washed over her, painting her body in its glowing green aura.

_Big guy's pumped huh? Alright, let's have him play ball then._

With her newfound energy she made two harsh swings and hacked off the remaining chunks of the lysaat still stuck on Rex's sword, then promptly yanked him by his hand and marched herself over towards Dromarch.

"N-nia?" Rex, suddenly unsure.

There were practically red dots peering at them from every direction. They'd either gotten wind of their blood or were just REALLY pissed.

She gave Rex her biggest shit eating grin. "Don't worry. You're gonna see something AWESOME."

"Dromarch, now!" She yelled, tossing her rings to the Blade.

The tiger caught them in his mouth causing a flash of light to light up the area as the air suddenly seemed to electrify as well.

To say the walls were moving would've been an understatement, as what looked like hundreds of lysaats were crawling just out of sight in the shadows around them.

That was until Dromarch, levitated the rings in front of himself and unleashed a huge wave of water practically carving a path through the horde as it just about disintegrated whatever got caught in the torrent.

With a loud echo, the wave smacked in to what looked like a large hatch on the far side of the room producing a sharp echo.

They held their heads as a piercing screech rang out from the hoard, a number of the creatures in their view writhing and seizuring.

"I- I think you stunned them." Rex heaved.

"Yeah, but for how long?" She grimaced, trying to find a way out of the pit they were in.

There was a loud bang from the hatch they just hit. Then another.

"My lady I fear we may have more company soon…"

"Yeah I know!" She growled hurriedly, still frantically searching for a way up.

Suddenly the hatch buckled, and exploded outward sending shrapnel and metal bits flying past them. A number of hisses and screeches were heard behind them as the debris clattered to the ground.

They were bathed in light, as a distinctly Malos-shaped silhouette casually stood in the newly made opening.

"Hey kiddies, how it going?" He greeted them with scary joviality.

Without missing a beat Nia grabbed Rex by the hand and sprinted for the light, Dromarch in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, they could hear the sounds of chittering once again forming around them.

They nearly collapsed upon breaching through.

"What's the big rush?" Malos asked with what seemed to be morbid curiosity.

Without a word, Nia pointed to where they'd just come from.

Hundreds of red eyes glared at them, their carapaces glinting in the light as they slowly approached.

An irritated frown crossed his face as he turned himself back to them. "You know you kids are a real pain in the ass, right?" He commented, flourishing the tonfa in his hand.

With Sever standing nearby, a golden string of energy connected the Blade and Driver.

His next action had little hesitation or thought behind it as he unleashed an explosion of wind into the ceiling causing it to almost immediately shred itself and collapse covering the hole he'd just made.

Malos sighed, seeming satisfied with himself. "That should be fine for a while."

From beyond the makeshift plug Nia could hear scratching and muffled confused chirps.

* * *

Nia blinked a few times, her mind finally catching up and realizing they were no longer in danger and how hard she was breathing.

"What took you?!" She wheezed.

"Had to find a way to get you lot out that didn't involve me jumping into that death pit." Malos answered nonchalantly.

"Well you sure took your time. We nearly died in there!"

"Speaking of— You'd better check up on your boyfriend, he's nothing look so good."

Her eye twitched. "He's not my boyfriend." She looked to find Rex had laid himself up against the wall holding his side.

"I'll scout ahead, you take care of his problem." Malos waved to Sever. "You're coming along as well."

She shot the man a severe look as he walked away, before hurriedly scurrying over to Rex, Dromarch following closely as well.

"Rex, what's wrong?" She asked while rubbing a hand on his shoulder to let him know she was there. She couldn't help but notice his sword laying nearby, its edge looking a bit dulled and worn under the rapidly drying dark blood.

He gave her a quick pained grin and lifted his hand off of his side, revealing both his palm and the side of his waist were wet with what appeared to be his blood.

Nia felt herself go cold. "Oh no..." She whimpered, resisting the urge to cover her mouth.

"That one that jumped on me: it caught me in the side while I was struggling with it." He admitted guiltily.

Nia's eyebrows creased, a familiar line of words crossed her mind. '_It's a neurotoxin… This stuff gets in your bloodstream, you'll probably be dead within fifteen minutes.'_

"Does it hurt?" She asked pointedly, her gut doing rolls.

"Agh… Maybe?"

"Maybe?!" The girl repeated.

"It-it's sensitive and hurts a lot when I move." He spoke shortly, trying to control his breathing.

_Ok, he's not going into shock and he's still got feeling but..._

She gave him a reassuring smile. "Alright, that's good then."

"It is?" His eyes widening a small bit.

"Yeah, means it didn't get you with too much of that toxin."

Rex's expression rose ever so slightly.

_Depending on how deep it went, it may be working its way to his organs even now._

"How deep did it get you?"

Rex grimaced and shook his head. "I should've listened to you." He muttered guiltily.

"Don't talk like that." She chided. "Let's just see how bad it is."

"A-alright…" He smiled grimly, as she ran a very gentle hand over the area.

It didn't take long for Rex to let out a sharp inhale, keying her into where it was. Examining further, she spotted a tattered coin-sized hole in his suit slowly oozing a trickle of warm blood.

_I can't tell with the fabric in the way..._

"I'm going to have to tear your suit a little." She warned him, lifting her eyes up to his face.

He nodded, "I've got extras, I'll be fine." turning his head away so he didn't have to see the wound itself.

Focusing back on the ever-growing splotch she found the ripped edges of the stretchable fabric and began tearing little by little at it, doing her best to keep the boy from reflexively jumping.

Now with a clear view, she could clearly see the puncture wound smeared with red.

Nia sat back on her haunches and observed it for a moment.

_Looks a bit deep, he's more than likely got a bit of that stuff in his system. I'll have to be quick._

"Ok… So here's what I'm thinking," She could hear him swallow nervously, "Dromarch's specialty is water and healing."

Rex blinked trying to keep up his brave front.

"The water he uses is charged with ether." She gestured to the Blade. "At its base, blood is made with water, ether, and a bunch of other things as well. Same goes for everything else that makes up you and me."

His eyes widened. "You're going to control my blood then?"

"Uh sorta, yeah." She admitted, realizing how morbid it sounded. "I'm going to draw out the affected blood, by filtering out any toxins in your system, and then afterward use a healing salve made of water to soothe and slowly seal the wound closed."

"Sounds a bit tricky…" He said, glancing down at his side.

Nia grinned confidently. "A bit, yes. To be honest, the salve bit is the easy part, but with me and Dromarch it'll be a cinch."

He gazed at his wound, before nodding justly. "Ok. Go for it then. I'm dead if you don't." He agreed. "Just let me turn my head again so I don't have to see it."

"Thank you. It'll be quick, I promise."

Nia turned to Dromarch and held out her hand, letting him drop both rings into her open palm. Setting one down she could feel the connection between her and the Blade open up as her weapon glowed with a cool blue aura.

A strand of translucent water slowly lowered itself and hung in midair like a string, practically defying gravity. She brought the string over to the boy's wound, letting it trail into the blood, melding and practically becoming part of the blood.

"Uh, Nia?"

"Yeah?" She said, not taking her eyes off of the string.

"Do you mind if I talk? Y'know, to pass the time?"

She didn't mind the noise if it helped him to relax. "Sure, if you want to."

The ring brightened with an exotic green aura as her connection to the Blade grew stronger, and the string of water grew longer as she let it travel through Rex's bloodstream.

"I'm uh, sorry for not listening to you."

"I only said that so you wouldn't get yourself hurt for my sake during that scuffle." She admitted.

She heard swallow, attempting to clear his throat. "I'm talking about back up on the deck."

"With Malos?"

The boy nodded. "I should have listened to you."

"Said that already, and I told you not to talk like that."

"But it's my fault!" He pushed. "If I hadn't gone and talked to Malos then maybe you wouldn't have to take care of me like this."

"Yeah, I sorta remember something like that being mentioned by the oaf over there." She responded nonchalantly.

In truth, she'd already seen him trying to talk to Malos before they'd boarded the Maelstrom. At the time she would have torn him a new one for tempting fate with Malos, but that would've made the situation worse.

Then the whole debacle with the other salvagers happened.

To say that pissed her off would've been an understatement, but it helped her realize that he was young enough that he still had a lot to learn about this world.

Hearing him tell her about his dream, only confirmed this and another thing.

"And?" He asked.

"I think you were justified." She responded simply.

Rex tilted his head in confusion. "You're not going to call me an idiot?"

"Well, you ARE an idiot."

"Oh thank—"

"But you're also a good person." She said, giving more slack to the string.

"—you?"

Dromarch emitted a quiet chuckle.

"For a long time, I've always kinda thought people were selfish by nature..."

A little further, and the ring shone a brilliant gold color. The feelings of her companion as well as herself exchanged with one another. Dromarch's quiet encouragement wrapped around her pushing her further on. She had full control now of where the string went.

_Now to find that toxin._

"But...?" Rex questioned.

"I guess you are the exception." Nia smirked.

Rex looked hesitant to accept her compliment. "How come I feel like—"

"But, that's probably because of the idiot part."

"— there it is." He sighed, leaning his head against the metal wall.

The string explored up and through his body splitting and splintering off into the millions of capillaries, veins, and arteries. Quickly, she began to pass by tiny bits of the toxin. There wasn't much, but then again such an amount could be trouble for him later.

_Not finding any organ damage, so that's a good sign._

She gathered up as much as she could, sending the string— or rather 'strings' —throughout his entire body, short of practically replacing it.

There was a weight on the line —no matter how microscopic it was— she knew it.

_Alright, now the hard part. If I'm not careful I could easily bleed him dry._

With a very small pull, she dragged every bit of the toxin she could find back.

It only took a second, before she was holding a tiny bit of purple at the string's end.

"Done. You're welcome by the way." She grinned, letting the string fall and splatter onto the metal floor below.

"That's it?" Rex looked back. "Where is it?"

She pointed at the small purple splatter triumphantly.

"Whoa…" He gasped. "That was—"

"Yep," Nia said smugly. "Now: the easy part."

The end of her ring bubbled rapidly, cleaning any remaining blood from them, and formed a glittering bit water on its edge.

"I'm going to rub this into the wound to sterilize then after I'll start healing it." She explained. "You might want to clench your teeth, this might sting."

"Wait wha— DRGGH." Rex's mouth snapped shut, his voice grounding into a series of pained mumbles.

"There. Now I just have to keep applying the healing part."

"Mmph… Is that going to sting as well?" He grumbled irritably.

She gave him a playful bop on the head. "Only if you move dumbo. Now stay."

Another few rounds of healing followed, each one slowly but surely soothing the wound. Rex meanwhile, seemed more and more interested in what she was doing, watching her work with increased scrutiny.

"Can I ask you a strange question?" Nia poised, the wound now just an angry pink.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Go for it."

She swallowed, clearing her throat. "Where are your parents?"

He looked at her with questioning.

"You've mentioned having an aunt and a grandfather, but you never mentioned anything about your parents."

It had been eating at her for a while, and she already had a strong idea on the answer, especially after he'd said he couldn't remember his last name, but she wanted to hear it from him specifically.

His expression sobered. "They're dead."

"Oh." The gormotti's gaze lowered back to the wound. "I'm sorry…"

_Good going, Nia._

Rex returned an unexpected smile. "Don't be. Gramps told me it happened when I was too young to remember anyway."

"Gramps?" It took a moment to realize who he was talking about. "Oh, you mean your grandfather. You said he'd taught you to use arts as well?"

He nodded. "Yeah. He, along with my aunt, practically raised me themselves."

The boy's eyes grew fond as they seemed to remember something. "He's not like us though."

"Not like…?" she cocked a brow.

"Think bigger." He responded, flashing a crooked toothy grin at her.

Nia narrowed her eyes at his playful expression and shook her head. "I'm not sure I get your meaning," She prepped and spread the last layer of healing water over the wound, "but if you're any indication, I think he and your aunt did a pretty good job raising you."

"You think?"

"I do." She smiled gently. "Don't disappoint them by dying here, alright?"

Rex looked a bit confused but still nodded. She watched him gaze down at where his wound had been. The skin now clear and clean, the only evidence of it being the torn fabric loosily hanging.

"Better?" She asked.

He nodded, running a curious hand over the area.

"It'll be a bit sensitive for a while, but you'll be fine."

"Incredible…"

Nia tiredly smiled at him. "Perks of being a Driver." She leaned back wearily as the glowing string between her and Dromarch dissipated along with the golden aura around them.

She felt like she'd just sprinted five or so miles straight up.

"You ok?" He asked, quickly leaning forwards offering her a supportive hand.

She refused it while Dromarch stepped in, his eyes drooping somewhat as well. "We'll be fine Sir Rex, just give us both a moment to catch our breath."

Rex looked worriedly between the two of them. "Does healing someone usually take that much out of the both of you?"

"Not usually. I think it was the whole filtering the toxin out bit that did the most of it." She answered, closing her eyes.

The boy grimaced. "Thank you, Nia, and you as well Dromarch. You're both uh… well," He seemed to struggle for the words, "you're both incredible."

"No need for the praise Sir Rex. Seeing you're okay is enough for us." Dromarch bowed.

Nia meanwhile smiled with amusement. _He's not all that different from me…_

* * *

Eventually, after she and Dromarch had caught their breath again, they continued on and trekked after Malos, following after him down a rather linear and comfortably lit corridor.

Fortunately, it didn't seem like this area of the ship hadn't suffered any sort of infestation, as the familiar smell of damp must filled their nostrils.

They eventually found Malos and Sever gazing down another set of stairs with a hatch that appeared to have been literally ripped off the wall, laying uselessly on its side a fair distance away.

"Nice of you all to show up," He commented upon noticing them, "While we were waiting on you we found that the System Control Room is down these set of stairs."

Nia eyed the hatch suspiciously. "Did you do that?" She asked, pointing to the defeated looking piece of metal.

"Yeah, didn't want to have any more delays so I made a path of my own." He explained, cocking one of his brows. "Any objections?"

"None," Nia said, finding herself agreeing with him. "Just don't want any more surprises from the wildlife."

"Hmph. Fair enough." He muttered. "Let's get going then."

With that, the group continued downwards.

As they did the damp musty smell they'd become accustomed to began to change, dissipating and replaced by an almost sweet smell. A strange fog flowed up from the base of the stairs well.

Reaching the bottom they emerged out into an unexpectedly short hallway that hung with more of the light fog. The right wall immediately drew their attention with the wall slanted at an angle with windows held in place by almost ornate curved frames, looking down and into what appeared to be a large room with large tubes hanging from the ceiling while vertical pipes scaled from floor to ceiling.

"Guessing that's the Engine Room." Rex proposed while crouching down to get a better look at the large cylinders intruding every so from the ceiling down into the room below.

"There." Malos pointed to a large bulkhead at the far end of the room. "We get to the end of this hallway, and we'll open that from the other side to get in." He said, already striding down the hallway.

Following him, Nia could immediately tell there had been an obvious change in the architecture here. The floor was carefully slatted and carved to be ergonomic while small fluorescent tubes, no longer pulsing circuitry, glowed brightly on the bottoms of their bottoms. Meanwhile, the walls themselves were now arranged with hexagonal combs, circles and complex lines carved into them disparately. Indecipherable shapes and symbols that she doubted even Dromarch could translate were engraved in vertical stripes every few steps or so into sections of the walls as well. Above the windows, she noticed a long continuous strip of beautifully designed crests and iconography that had long since faded.

There was no doubt that they were getting close now.

Reaching the end of the hallway, they found themselves walking out into what looked like a large U-shaped room, dipping in the center with another set of stairs and leading to bulkhead Malos had pointed out earlier, as well as heading up into an identical hallway, like they'd come from, on the other side.

At the back of the room was a quartet of four cylinders surrounded by a collection of other similarly shaped oblong machinery, with almost beautiful chiseled lines arching all across their surface. In front of the mysterious technology, sat a darkened console. Unlike the ones from the helm, this one appeared to be radically different in its construction.

Of the four cylinders, one appeared to still appeared to be active, dimly transmitting an erratic supply of glowing yellow upwards, various bits of the stream shimmered and sparkled as the energy was weakly pulled upwards. Various dim lines could be seen feeding out from it across the walls and ceiling to parts unknown.

"Looks like that's the source of our power," Malos said crossing his arms.

"That's what is feeding power to the entire ship?" Nia asked, surprised something so weak could even provide power in the first place.

"Thing was probably built to last so it's not surprising." He suggested, drawn over to the console.

The rest of them followed, idly observing the now almost decadent interior.

Getting closer Nia noticed how Malos' hands were moving in an almost mechanical manner across the machine. Like he knew what he was doing.

"Have you ever worked with a machine like this before?" She questioned him pointedly.

Malos eyed her. "I've dealt with machines like these in the past, so it's all pretty similar to me."

"So where was all this knowledge beforehand when were up in the helm?"

"Stuff up there looked newer, plus it was in a language I couldn't read." He responded, half-heartedly.

She observed him warily, not at all convinced of his explanation, before turning her attention back to the console. "So what have you found out from it then Mr. Know-It-All?"

His eyes narrowed, lips turning into a distinct frown as he focused back on the console as well. "Thing says that all available power is being routed to the other sections of the ship."

"So like… Just send the power to the bulkhead over there then." The gormotti responded plainly.

"Can't." The man growled with annoyance. "We do that and it'll suck up what's left while rerouting it. Meaning we're going to have a very dark return trip." He turned to her, admonishing her with his gaze. "And I don't think we want that considering those things you and the kid ran into earlier seemed to prefer the darkness."

"... Point taken." She admitted.

Rex stepped up. "So we need just need more power? That's it?" He asked.

"Looks like it," Nia said, looking the unpowered chambers up and down.

"You ever seen something like this before kid?" Malos asked.

Rex glanced from Malos to the fuel chamber, poring over them intelligently. Before sighing with a defeated shrug.

"First time I've ever seen something like this..." He conceded. "But I can say that they somewhat resemble what the Ardanians haul in those cargo containers of theirs back in Goldmouth—"

"Hold on." Nia took a step forwards. "How exactly do you know that? Last time I checked, you were a salvager. Not a box-man"

"Well I- uh, I mean— Oh alright…" He caved. "I _might've_ gotten in trouble with some Ardanian troops in the past for breaking into their supplies."

Nia noticed a smirk pull at Malos' lips. "So you're a salvager and a terrorist on the side?" He asked, barely hiding his amusement.

"No!" Rex quickly shook his head. "Of course not!"

"Then enlighten us then kid. Me especially, I am _very_ interested." Malos teased.

Rex groaned and scratched the back of his head. "Ok so: tensions between Mor Ardain and Uraya been on the rise lately, even with the treaty they signed with each other like a decade back. Recently they — the Ardainian troops I mean — have tried to approach me and a number of other guys to try and salvage old military tech for them."

Malos tapped a finger against his chin, interested in the information.

"Did you accept?" Nia asked, cocking her head.

The boy shook his head. "By that time I'd already broken into their stuff, see, they'd already been moving their cargo through Goldmouth's port for some time. I wanted to know what so I broke into some of their crates, most of it I found to be weapons parts and the like."

"So you didn't like them moving weapons around?" Dromarch queried.

He nodded. "I don't want to support something that could get people killed. If I had it my way, I'd stop them from fighting in the first place."

Malos sneered. "Would you look at that! He's a freaking humanitarian! A real saint in training here!"

Rex glared, annoyed by his laughter. Meanwhile, Nia crossed her arms, keeping a tight hold on her tongue.

_Just ignore him Rex. Remember what I told you about that dream of yours._

She watched Rex sigh as the older man's sounds of amusement faded. For a moment, he looked the ether fuel chambers up and down before he seemed to notice something. He walked over to one of the unpowered tubes and knelt down. Pulling out what looked like a dark cylinder.

"Here: look at this," Rex said, holding it out for them to see. "This resembles the ether cells you'd normally find used in an Ardanian rifle."

Malos folded his arms impatiently. "So what's your point here kid?"

"I think we can get power going again. We just have to—"

"Find another ether cell lying around here?" Malos completed Rex's sentence.

" —er, yeah. Like you said: this thing was designed to last. So there's probably some around here we could just take and swap it in." He nodded, thumbing to one of the unpowered ether chambers.

"Huh, not a bad idea kid. Alright, I'll go search." Malos pointed to Nia. "Since you've been getting comfy with him, you're on babysitting duties."

"Yeah, fine." She grumbled. "You're taking Sever and going off to do… Whatever it is that you do?"

"Now you're getting it." Malos gave her a quick wink, dragging Sever off by his shoulder.

* * *

They waited a few minutes to be sure they were alone again before they finally relaxed, and settled in to wait patiently.

For some reason even though they were in the depths of a previously sunken vessel, it felt 'cozy'. That is if you didn't take into consideration that there was a nest of killer crustaceans not far away, and that normally the place was stuck far far down beneath the surface of the Cloud Sea.

Rex stood with his head dipped and arms crossed, the low whirring of the ether chamber soothing to his ears. Nia had meanwhile taken up residence on one of the walls, leaning against it lazily her ears occasionally twitching. Dromarch sheepishly sat between the two, his striped tail curled around himself.

"You looked pretty mad when Malos was teasing you," Nia said.

Rex raised his head. "Hm? Oh, yeah. I really did consider saying something, then I remembered what you said earlier."

A smile crossed Nia's features. "I was hoping you would."

"It was about thinking about where I'll be. That Malos guy as far I'm concerned won't be bothering me after all this is said and done so I let him have his fun."

"And instead you started coming up with a solution. Nice, that's pretty smart y'know?"

"You think? I was only going off of what I know."

"Trust me, no one gets far in life without taking a situation into their own hands."

"Like how you took charge back there with all the Lysaats? And healing me?"

He watched Nia bob her head from side to side. "Eh… Sorta. I'm more talking about taking something bad and working around it."

Rex contemplated her words, shifting his weight between his legs.

"Like what you're doing for your aunt. You aren't there moping around, you've gone ahead gotten out and are trying to help her by doing that salvaging thing."

He looked hopefully up at her. "I think I said this before but both Dromarch and you are incredible. And I don't mean just the powers and all, but you both just know so much!"

"Trust me, Rex, I really don't know everything. Heck, if you asked me about that machine over there I couldn't tell you the first thing about it." She grinned.

"I'm more talking in how you can handle things."

"Rex you say that, but it was you being there for me yesterday when I was…" She trailed off.

"But that's because it was a bad situation! And I think you just wanted to do right by your teammates, and at that point in time you thought you'd failed them." He said, impulsively.

It was a half-blind statement. By the way she'd talked about her teammates previously it seemed like she was under a lot of pressure.

To his surprise, it seemed he'd guessed right as he watched her try a few times to form a response, failing each time.

"Did I say something I shouldn't have?" He asked anxiously.

Rex swore he noticed Dromarch looking at Nia with smile.

"No no, I mean, you're not wrong." She admitted. "I want to prove to everyone on the team that I can do this. That I can be useful."

"Useful? Are you not already?" The thought had never crossed his mind.

The gormotti massaged the bridge of her nose. "If I tell you something embarrassing, will you try not to laugh at me?"

"You didn't laugh at me when I when I asked the same thing, so I see no reason to." He responded sprightly.

Nia sighed and pursed her lips, fidgeting a little. "Um, this is actually my first mission." She mumbled, a red tinge crossing her cheeks and nose.

Rex's eyes widened. "O-oh. Huh."

He'd never considered the idea. Though, after everything he'd seen and heard from her it made quite a bit of sense.

"Yeah." She muttered, tapping her the tip of her boot on the ground.

"Could've fooled me." He smiled, trying to downplay her, feeling a little guilty for making the girl reveal something.

"Don't tell anyone alright?"

He held out a hand, his finger half folded. "How about a salvager's promise then?"

She cocked an eyebrow at the extended hand. "Huh?"

"C'mon, just do it!"

"I'm not a salvager, idiot." Her brow furrowed.

Rex leaned his head back, sighing exasperatedly. "It's what salvagers do so they don't rat each other out."

"Again, I'm not a salvager." Nia frowned.

"You don't even have to be a salvager to make it official." He bargained.

She passed her gaze between his still extended hand, and his now pleading expression skeptically.

"And… If you do this you can yell at me later if I yap."

"Deal." She grinned impishly. "Show how me you do this uh... 'salvager's promise'."

He smiled thankfully.

After showing her how its done they put it into action.

First he extended his hand, finger half bent so they resembled a hook. Nia mirrored him, with a grimace, using her own gloved fingers to hook them around his own. This was meant to symbolize that while not a binding contractual agreement, it was in fact a mutual one with understanding from either party.

Next he brought a hand underneath and cupped both their hands supporting it from beneath, in this way it showed the one offering the promise would support the mutual agreement. Then Nia brought her other hand over and laid it on top, to symbolize that the other party confirming their understanding of the other's intentions and ultimately wishing to uphold them.

Finally, they both rose both hands and did a full arm shake before releasing. This way they could stay on equal ground with one another, and 'seal the deal' as they say.

"That was really lame." She admitted.

A silly grin played across his features. "Yeah… I think it's kinda corny as well."

Her features shifted back to their previous seriousness. "I mean it though Rex, I'll never hear the end of it if people find out."

He held a hand over his chest. "On my salvager's honor, and our friendship."

_Crap._

Her eyebrows rose a number of ticks upwards. "We're friends?"

_Crap crap. He'd let it slip._

"Sure!" He reasoned, trying to play it off. "Unless, sharing secrets and helping each other doesn't mean anything?"

It wasn't a great response, but it was what he could come up with.

He was surprised to see Dromarch step to Nia's side, still grinning at her. "He has a point my lady." Dromarch sounded off.

_Dromarch to my rescue again… _He internally sighed.

Nia shot the Blade a glare. "Ugh fine." She raised her head back to Rex. "Friends it is then."

_Well, at least she's friends with me now._

A number of footsteps could be heard clattering towards them. "You kiddies didn't wet yourselves while I was gone did you?" Malos asked, appearing and clambering down the stairs a glowing tube tucked in the crook of his arm, followed closely by the nearly mute Sever.

"This what you were looking for?" The man said, handing the glowing tube to Rex.

The salvager held it in his hands examining the piece up and down. "Yes, this looks like just what we need."

They watched him carry the cylinder over to the inactive fuel chamber and delicately slide it in. A sharp hiss could be heard, followed by a flash of light as a beam of yellow ether shot up and through the viewing port bathing the area in even more of the warm yellow light.

A teal colored line of flowed across the floor and routed itself to the control panel.

"Yes! It worked!" He cheered.

"Congrats kid, not only are you resourceful, but you're a humanitarian, and a bit of a gear head." Malos congratulated him.

Tempted yet again, he swallowed his annoyance back and replaced it with a humble smile. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Malos smirked, stepping with purpose over to the console. "Alright then, let's get this bulkhead open then."

With a number of gestures and clicks, another teal line extended from the console out and down the stairs to the bulkhead. Numerous circles and lines lit up on it as numerous creaks and clicks could be heard from the mechanical pieces within the door.

Following a final click the bulkhead opened, separating down the middle and rolling back into the wall, a light breeze of sealed air hit them followed by more fog. Oddly enough, it smelled even sweeter now almost citrusy.

Anticipation brewed amongst them as they trudged downward and into the empty engine room beyond.

As they did Rex gazed around, now having a better view of the area when compared to the windows above.

Above them hung the large cylinder he quickly determined it to be the engine, hence the name of the room. Several more bulky wires and tubes they'd not previous seen hung slacked as they snaked to several out of view places in the darkness beyond.

The walls were decorated with more engravings of ancient text, curving and fluidly flowing with the geometry of the metal walls. Barring that, even more of the strange circular seams and lines traced the walls, occasionally framed with boxes of etched art of what appeared to be circuitry.

For some reason he couldn't shake the feeling that no one but them had set foot here.

At the other end of the room sat a rather large distinctly ornate door. Even more ancient text with what appeared to be scripture traced in curved lines, while expertly crafted lines and regalia adorned it. At its center appeared to be a crest of a flame surrounded with fineries, while a circle with what appeared to be shapes stacked upon one another within the flame itself. What was odd about the door itself was that besides the flame crest there didn't appear to be any obvious way to open it.

Malos stepped back after taking a few moments to examine said door. "Hey kid, check out this door."

Rex glanced from him to the door. Quietly, he complied, approaching and looking it over.

Aside from the obvious care and detail put into the piece, there wasn't an obvious control panel or switch to open it.

Rex turned back to them frowning. "I can't figure it out either, there isn't any control panel, mechanism, or anything."

"Well then you'll just have to figure that out, won't you?" Malos growled back impatiently, Nia meanwhile shooting the man an annoyed look.

Rex bit his lip— _Hope I never have to see this guy again _— before turning back to the door again.

He searched it again, his eyes settling upon the crest in its center. Experimentally, he reached forward and touched it causing it to light up.

Stumbling back he watched the door suddenly split into three halves, all of them sliding in their own direction back into the wall.

More sweet smelling fog rolled out the newly opened door, revealing a dim metal passage leading forward and beyond with a similar door at that end of it.

Rex looked back to both Nia and Malos. Nia in particular seeming surprised, while Malos had that familiar grin on his face.

"Keep going kid, there's another door inside there you need to open as well." Malos pointed to a similar door at the end of the newly opened passage.

The boy quietly nodded and began walking down the corridor. He was about halfway when a yelp from Nia drew his attention.

He gazed back at the group.

"Don't mind us, we're having a friendly conversation is all." Malos said, giving Nia an unconvincing pat on the shoulder. "Just get that other door and we'll follow."

He regarded them warily, his eyes narrowing, before continuing on.

The second door was as simple as the first, with him just having to touch the crest causing it to slide away and back into the walls revealing another even darker passage beyond.

* * *

As Rex crept down the corridor the sweet citrusy smell from earlier only grew more potent, it reminded him of oranges for some reason, the fog lapping at his boots. He could just barely make out his hand and walls around him in the low light conditions.

"Creepy," he shivered, proceeding onwards.

Eventually the flat metal walls fell away surrounding him in a variety of metal tubes, while more glowing circuitry peeked through. At the end of the passageway a strange pale light glowed, seeming to almost beckoning to him.

_Weird…_

The passage widened as the light at the end grew nearer.

Rex shielded his eyes as he reached the end of the passage, his feet stopping as he emerged into a wide circular room. Glowing particulate shifted about the room.

Let his eyes adjust as he gazed around the chamber. At its center stood a huge column, surrounded with shallow moat filled with a glowing liquid.

_Is that ether? _He wondered.

Massive metal tubes fed into the pool, while others snaked down from the ceiling towards the column, dragging his eyes back to it.

There appeared to be something built into the column itself. He slowly approached, his eyes never leaving the object. It looked like a circular tube with a golden frame around it.

_A case? No, it's a casket._

He screwed up his eyes, noticing that there was something inside it, the shape resembling a person.

The boy drew ever closer, his curiosity peaking.

Now standing just a short distance away he found himself to be correct on his initial observation of it being a person. Though what surprised him was that it was a girl.

She was suspended in the casket, her fingers delicately laced within each other over her collarbone while her eyes remained closed.

Her shorter shoulder length hair was a shining crimson, while her outfit was like nothing he'd seen before. A strange array of skin-tight materials hugged her chest, emphasizing her more than sizable bust, that then trailed down and tapered, showing the skin of the sides of her waist, while hugging her toned stomach, before disappearing into a pair of hot pants.

The girl's face, framed by her hair, didn't have a single imperfection to it, with long lashes, a cute button nose, and a luscious cherry lips.

He found himself entranced by the girl's beauty, lingering on her features.

A glowing green light at his feet drew his attention downward.

It looked like a weapon. Possibly a sword of some kind? It stood upright in a pedestal on the metal floor in front of him. At its hilt of its guard a strange crystal was inlaid, revealing itself to be the source of the light. It resembled a 't' if it had stunted arms and no curve on end.

Rex found his eyes couldn't be torn from it as his hand reached forward—

"Stop! Don't EVEN THINK about touching that!" A voice roared, causing him to flinch.

As he did his fingers accidentally tapped the crystal. A spark shocked his finger and a pulse of ether particles burst out in front of him. Transfixed, he watched them float upwards and fade. His thoughts were muddled and fuzzy as his body buzzed with _something new_.

"Rex!" Another voice screamed, rattling his eardrums shaking him from his daze.

_Huh? What was I—?_

Turning, he found Malos standing behind him with his weapon drawn and held aloft.


	6. Ch:1-5 pt2

_Friends... _Nia thought, watching Rex as he was directed by Malos over to the oversized door at the other end of the room. She noted how the boy didn't look particularly confident about it as approached it.

_He thinks we're friends, huh? _She chewed on the inside of her cheek, rolling the word over in her mind.

Malos and Sever meanwhile retreated back a few steps, giving the boy room to look the oversized door over.

They watched him, the lost look in his eyes growing by the moment.

"What do you hope to accomplish by having him look at it?" Nia muttered to Malos.

"Just shut up and watch."

The boy fiddled a little longer before he turned back to them. "I can't figure it out, there isn't a control or anything." Rex explained.

"Well then you'll just have to figure that out, won't you?" Malos growled back impatiently.

Rex gave Malos a look of annoyance, turning back to the door again.

"He obviously doesn't know what he's doing Malos." She murmured, throwing a scowl in Malos' direction.

Suddenly there was a loud shifting noise accompanied with a shuttering as the door suddenly split into thirds, each of them sliding their own direction back into the wall.

More dense sweet smelling fog rolled out the newly opened door, revealing a dim metal passage leading forward and beyond with a similar door at that end of it.

Nia looked from where the door was to Malos, seeing a triumphant grin on the man's face.

_How did he know that would work?_

Wondering this she noticed Rex began to walk forwards into the passage. She was about to follow after when a hand grabbed her shoulder and yanked her backwards.

"What now?!" She sputtered, quickly wrenching herself free of its grasp finding none other than Malos to be the culprit.

Silently, he pointed beyond her to the floor of the passage. Nia squinted now noticing the electrical sparks radiating off the floor, discharging silently with every step Rex took.

_A trap?_

The boy meanwhile looked back, obviously hearing her yelp.

"Don't mind us, we're having a friendly conversation is all." Malos assured, giving her an unconvincing pat on the shoulder. "Just get that other door and we'll follow."

He regarded them warily, before continuing on.

Still breathing somewhat rapidly, she swapped a suspicious glare back at the man beside her. "You mind telling what the HECK kind of weapon it is we're looking for here?" She whispered, removing the man's hand from her person.

He tilted his head with feigned curiosity. "You're asking that now?"

Nia's frown deepened. "I'm fine with killer crustaceans, they're only here because they live in this dump." She pointed an accusatory finger to where the door had been then towards Malos. "But traps? No. Those don't just poof into existence."

Malos crossed his arms, leaning his head slightly back from the girl's accusations.

"So yeah, I'd like an explanation. That and why it is you seem to know about the tech on this floating crap dump." She finished, jabbing him in the pectoral of his armor.

The man regarded her finger swinging his eyes upwards, appearing to make an attempt to contemplate what she'd said, before giving her that craptastic smirk of his.

Another series of shifting and shuttering signaled that Rex had opened the door on the other side of the passage. The sparks on the floor of the passage dissipated as well.

Malos' smirk only grew wider as he continued on forwards. "Come on, we're moving."

Nia stared into the back of his head. A feeling of dread welled up in the pit of her stomach. Worry not only for herself, but for Rex's sake also.

* * *

Following behind Malos and Sever, Nia couldn't help but perk her ears anxiously as the geometry of the passage changed from flat walls of metal to winding metal tubes, the air smelling increasingly of fruit as a strange glow illuminated the end of the passage.

"_Were friends?"_

"_Sure! Unless, sharing secrets and helping each other doesn't mean anything?"_

_Did it? How could he be so sure?_

Nia gave herself a little shake. She couldn't be distracted right now, she'd have plenty of time to think and sort out her thoughts later.

Ahead, she noted how close the glowing light had become and soon found herself entering into a large circular room.

Following Malos' lead, they both stood at the entrance. Rex meanwhile, stood a little farther ahead, his head turning as he took in the details of the room in wonderment.

There was more ancient script written on the walls here, along with a pool of glowing liquid circling around a pillar at the center.

Glancing over at Malos' she noticed he was staring intently at the pillar in the center, a grin on his face.

Following his gaze, she saw a case of some kind of tube affixed to the said pillar, the figure of what looked like a person inside.

_A person? Why is a person stored here?_

"Yeah… That's her alright..." Malos muttered, just loud enough for her to hear, while his grin grew even bigger.

Nia's jaw stiffened, figurative alarm bells ringing in her ears. _There's definitely something wrong. Just what the HELL is going on here._

Swallowing nervously, she worked up the nerve to find her voice. "Malos, what's going on? Who is she?"

Malos turned to her sharply, a murderous look in his eyes.

She shrunk a little, distinctly feeling like a bug under the man's glare. A green light appearing out of the corner of vision drew her eye over to find Rex lucidly stepping toward what appeared to be the source of the light.

"Rex?" She called out to him, not even phasing the boy.

Malos' eyes widened as he whipped his head back over to the boy, who now reached out towards the light in a daze.

"STOP! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT TOUCHING THAT!" Malos roared.

A small flash of light illuminated their vision, following a sharp pinging in their ears.

The whole room fell silent, as the sound faded away. The Gormotti blinked, confused by what had happened. From what she could tell the light was gone, and Rex was standing there dazed.

"Shit." Malos cursed under his breath.

Nia's eyes flicked to the older man, as he drew the tonfa from his back, beelining for Rex.

"Wait, Malos what are you—"

Her voice died in the back of her throat as a horrible thought screamed through her mind. She locked up, as she watched the man stop behind the boy.

_No..._

He raised his the edge of weapon skyward.

_NO!_

"Rex!" She screamed without thinking.

* * *

The controls of the Monoceros glowing before him, Mikhail leaned back in his chair while reaching into his vision and twisting a few loose locks of his blonde hair between his fingers.

"Wonder what Patroka is up to…"

His mind conjured up images of the woman's long sleek shining ebony hair and pale eyes unblinkingly bashing a punk's faces.

"Yeah, probably that." He chuckled to himself fondly. "Man, I just can't get enough of her..."

A large screen on the far wall showed him a feed of the recently raised relic of a ship sitting stationary off in the distance, bobbing slowly with the passing waves of clouds. Using his other hand he pressed a button on the control deck making the screen zoom in on the floating wreck.

"Who'd would've thought we'd find it in a dingy old coffin like that." He commented to himself, lifting his finger off the button.

He shifted in his seat, leaning his head side to side with an audible crack from each direction. The zoomed image feed was fuzzy but he could make out a number of small moving dots on the deck of the ancient ship, most likely the salvager crew.

He leaned forward, resting his mouth into the palm of his hand.

_Looks like the salvagers have settled in nicely, probably still waiting for Malos and Nia to return._

He tapped each of his fingers across his cheek, checking the nearby local time display.

"We're getting close to our cutoff here…" He mumbled, starting to rub the underside of his nose when he heard the door behind him shifting open.

Stiffening he sat up straight while spinning in the chair to find Jin leaning in the doorway, his posture slack.

"Jin?!" The blonde nearly jumped out of the chair, rushing to support him.

The blonde found himself quickly waved off by the other man as he was pushed past.

"Jin… You—" He paused breathlessly, watching him walk out onto the bridge leaning on what had been his chair. "—you're awake!"

"How long?" Jin asked calmly, his gaze pointedly at the video feed on the far wall.

Mikhaili hesitated, "... A day and a half." joining the white-haired man's side.

"How many?" He adjusted the mask on his face.

Again, Mikhail was hesitant to respond. "Not many, we were lucky as Malos happened to be nearby when you relapsed."

"And Nia?"

The blonde shook his head. "No, nothing."

Jin paused for a moment or so, before moving his attention back to the video feed. "... How long ago did the operation start?" The man followed up.

"They went in little over an hour or so ago."

The masked man didn't respond.

"I've been waiting to hear for word back, as we planned." He explained, crossed his arms, nervously swapping his weight between his legs. "But I haven't heard anything back yet..."

Again, Mikhail found himself lacking a response from the other man.

He looked over to Jin curiously, trying to pick out any expression or hints at what was going through his mind. Though he found this hard to do, as always, due to the mask he wore obscuring everything but this mouth.

"Jin are you sure you're ok? I know you relapsed yesterday, but—"

The masked man turned to him, his eyes sharpening their gaze. "You're sure nothing has come through from Malos or Nia?"

Mikhail shook his head. "No, nothing. To be honest I'm a bit worried."

"We're going to the backup plan then."

"Jin…!" He was astonished. "You don't mean—"

Jin nodded, a frown curving his normally straight lips downwards. "Get the Monoceros' preparations underway."

* * *

Rex's eyes flicked between Malos and the bladed tonfa held above him, poised to drop on top of him.

Malos turned his head in the direction of the scream. "Nia you—"

In the man's moment of distraction, his body moved on its own grabbing the sword from the pedestal behind him, feeling its weight of it, even with how surprisingly stubby it was, as he lifted it from its resting place, and swung heavily at Malos' tonfa.

Caught off guard, the taller man stumbled backward still holding tightly to the weapon.

"You son of a-" Malos yanked his head back in Rex's direction, his eyes now alight with anger.

With barely any time at all, he ducked as Malos made a quick swipe for him, going into a tight roll to put some distance in.

Snapping up to his feet, eyes wide and adrenaline pumping, he found Nia, having mounted herself atop Dromarch, positioned between him and his attacker.

"Get out of the way Nia." Malos growled, recovering from his attack.

She remained silent, maintaining her ground.

The male Driver narrowed his eyes. "I don't think you quite comprehend your position."

I know that, but—" she tried to explain.

Malos' jaw tightened. "Drop the moral crisis Nia. If it wasn't me, then Jin would've already finished this."

He noticed the Gormotti's hands tighten their grip on Dromarch's fur. "Don't you dare bring him into this." She growled. "Jin would never do such a thing."

"You sure about that?" Malos inched forwards. "How much do you really know about him?"

Nia yanked one of the rings from her waist, that familiar blue aura surrounding her as she pointed it in Malos' direction.

"Don't move…"

The air buzzed with tension.

…

…

"Tch, I don't have time for this." Malos shook his head, baring his teeth.

He could only catch a glimpse of the man leaping towards them before a pool of water suddenly formed under his feet causing him to slide uncontrollably.

The man's balance lost, he slid and tripped, falling-face first into one of the glowing pools.

"Rex were leaving!" Nia yelled.

He found the Gormotti holding an outstretched hand to him. Reaching out he took it, the girl yanking him up with surprising strength onto Dromarch's back.

The instant he landed and grasped her shoulder Dromarch broke into a dead sprint back towards the way they entered.

"Stop them!" Malos yelled, amidst the various crashes of liquid.

Rex caught sight of Sever moving to intercept. "Nia, right!"

A shot of water jetted and catching the approaching Blade in the leg sending him sprawling to the ground.

Not stopping, they plunged themselves back into the tunnel, assorted swears and curses from Malos following them.

Everything nearly shrouded in black, and their only guide being the dim light of the engine room: Rex's mind caught up with himself. Images of the girl suspended in the case flashed past through his mind.

Rex leaned towards her cat-like ear. "Nia, that girl—"

"Forget the girl!" Nia snapped viciously.

His mouth clamped shut.

"Rex, Malos was going to kill you! I- I don't know why b-but he was definitely going to do that…" The Gormotti girl gazed at him sidelong. "You saw him raise his weapon at you, right?!"

He grimaced and nodded rapidly.

"Alright… Ok…" She returned her head in front with a nod to herself.

"So uh… What's the plan?" He asked nervously.

She glanced back at him. "Plan? I—"

The words died in her mouth as Dromarch skidded to stop. The pair looked ahead to see why and froze.

A creature easily three times their size with a pair of powerful arms seemingly stuck on to either side of a shark's body, stood between them and the engine room, the dim glow of their destination just beyond its hulking form.

"That's an Aligo." Rex whispered faintly, heart thumping in his chest.

Aligos were known to be found all over Alrest; with so many subspecies recorded in existence, they'd probably more than likely just discovered a new one.

"If it gets its teeth on us, were dead."

For a moment they remained silent, the monstrosity letting out a low gurgle as it's beady eyes looked them over hungrily.

"Somehow this is Malos related." She replied, grimly.

As if hearing his name mentioned the sounds of heavy pounding from behind reminded them that something much worse was on their heels.

Rex looked back, immediately regretting it, seeing a glowing haze of what seemed to him to be pure rage making his blood run cold.

"DROP THE BOY NIA AND I'LL FORGET THIS EVER HAPPENED." Malos roared.

His eyes wide, he turned back to Nia. "Nia we have to—"

"Yeah I know." She spoke tightly, not breaking line of sight with the Aligo. "Dromarch?"

The Blade grunted an acknowledgment.

With no delay, two powerful thin jets of water rocketed and blasted the Aligo in either of its black doll-like eyes. The creature thrashed wildly, its head smashing into both sides of the passage loudly.

"Hold on," Nia warned him.

He swallowed, releasing her shoulder, now wrapping his free arm around her waist.

With a powerful push from Dromarch's back legs, they dashed and, in the beast's confusion, body-slammed its nose. Further disorientated and in pain, the creature fearfully backed up out of the passageway.

Swiftly the tiger surged past the monster and sped across the room through the still open bulkhead.

Dromarch nearly leaping up the stairs, Rex spotted the console still sitting active.

"Nia! The console! Get me to that console!"

She snapped an eye back at him, Dromarch already pivoting and stopping next to it.

He jumped off, his fingers immediately mashing through the options on it. _Ok I saw him do it before: just gotta hit this, then that, then finally— _He hastily hit a familiar-looking icon setting off a number of clicks from the nearby bulkhead as it began to close.

The two sides of the barrier slid out of the wall while the third descended when a sudden meaty thunk reverberated through their ears followed up with a prolonged squeaking.

Without warning, the Aligo's now decapitated cadaver suddenly rocketed through the remaining gap, jamming it.

Rex felt the blood drain from his face as the three sections hissed and strained against the soft flesh of corpse.

Heavy footfalls from beyond echoed, growing closer.

"Rex we need to go."

Suddenly one of the bulkhead's sections was wrenched open, Malos stepping through. He wasn't sure if he was just seeing things but the man's eyes almost seemed to glow and billow with purple flames.

"Rex!"

He found himself yanked haphazardly back onto Dromarch again, as they sped off, various shots of water rocketing past in Malos' direction.

* * *

"I'm serious! You want me to say it? Alright, I'll say it: I'm sorry. So sorry for having acted like an ass to Rex." Kurt maintained, puffing out his chest and putting on a brave face. "There, you happy?"

Spraine's gaze sharpened for but a moment, before he broke the front with a sigh, wiping some of the moisture from the top of his head. "If you're going to apologize to anyone it should be Rex—not me."

Kurt frowned. "Just remember you're just as—"

"Yeah, I know. You don't have to keep using that like it's an ace up your sleeve." Spraine spoke. "In fact, when we get back: I'm buying him drinks for the whole night and chipping in twenty-five percent."

"Tw-twenty five?!" Kurt spluttered. "Jeez man, you one-uping me here?"

"Maybe…" He guessed, smirking openly. "But we're getting off-topic here:"

Kurt cocked his head.

"Don't you think it's weird that they only took Rex in?"

"Uh, not really. If they took more of us then we'd just be getting in the way, wouldn't we? "

Spraine shook his head. "No, I understood that part. What's weird was that of all of us, that taller Driver with the black hair picked him."

Kurt pursed his lips, visibly miffed. "You trying to say that it's my fault that I sent a kid in perilous danger? Cause if you are I'm certainly not appreciating you rubbing it in."

"Listen!" He hissed. "Rex is more than competent, at least when it comes to his skills in a fight, but he's as green as they come where actual experience is involved. I saw him earlier, before we boarded, eyeing the tall one up like he had beef with him. Then later I found him again talking to the same guy when I dragged him on board."

The younger man idly chewed on the tip of his thumb. "That would explain that little speech the taller scary one made, but what's your point?"

"If this job is paying so much, and we've all basically been just about handpicked by chairman Bana, then why would they pick a kid like Rex to go along with them into a ship we just raised in an uncharted area?"

"Well… Ah…" Kurt petered off, "Insurance maybe? I mean, it wasn't a secret to any of us that they were after something big, but if you're right, then taking someone that's very impressionable would be they're best bet."

"Ahh! There! That!" Spraine pointed at Kurt.

"What? That's what I would do if I wanted to get something without any complications." He shrugged.

"But there's the rub! Why would they take him along if one of them already knew he had preconceived notions about them?"

Kurt put a hand on his hip. "Well... He's just a kid so... if he tries anything... it'll be easy enough to deal with him?"

The dark-skinned salvager stared at the younger salvager with a stony expression.

"I mean, I'm just thinking from those Driver's perspective here. It's not like I, or rather, THEY would ACTUALLY do that." Kurt backpedaled.

Spraine didn't respond, the wrinkles in his features growing deeper by the moment.

"Uh, hey Spraine?"

The older man looked up.

"Is it me, or is that black dot over there getting bigger?" He said, pointing off the side of the ship.

* * *

"Rex, forget about me and go!" Nia spat, waving the boy off to run ahead.

"But Nia—"

"GO!" She yelled, snapping back to a lone Malos as he menacingly approaching them from across catwalk.

A dim blue aura glowed around her. "My lady, what do you plan to do?"

The Gormotti bit her lip and shuffled backward off the catwalk onto the solid metal floor, gripping the rings tightly in both hands, her eyes never leaving Malos. From below she could hear that horrible chittering clicking in her ears.

She could feel her legs shaking slightly, her mind searching for a way to stall the man.

Chancing a glance, she saw the creatures' ruby red dots still hungrily watching from the pit below. Quickly looking back to the approaching Malos she noticed one of the supports of the catwalk was rusted at its base.

A risky idea occurred to her.

Nia thinned her lips, swallowing nervously, she let him draw closer.

"My patience is at an end Nia. Last time: Move and let me have the boy." Malos growled, his eyes boring right through her.

"Where's Sever? He realized you've lost your marbles as well?" She goaded him.

Malos' eye twitched, his frown growing deeper.

With a sudden burst of speed he broke into a dead sprint right for her.

_Yeah that's right. C'mon just a little closer… and—_

"Now!" Swiping one of her rings she blasted a shot of water straight at Malos.

The taller man skidded to a stop, parrying the projectile easily, failing to notice her simultaneously swinging her other ring shooting another burst of water at the base of the section of catwalk he stood on.

With a horrid metallic wrenching sound, the section of the catwalk suddenly bent outward pulling the rest of the path with it. Malos didn't have time to react as, like a row of dominoes, the entire aged and degrading metal structure pulled and tore itself from the wall, collapsing onto and crashing right through the aging grated floor, before finally landing with a deafening boom into the nest of creatures below.

With only the tinkling and creaking of stray debris, the entirety of Hold #1 was quiet. _I-is he dead? _She wondered, peering down into the inky black.

"Rrrgh- DAMMIT NIA!" Malos' voice hollered up from the newly created pit, answering her question.

Slowly she shuffled back from the edge, a hand over her chest taking measure of her own heavy breathing.

"My lady?" Dromarch looked up from the pit to her. "Did you intend for that to happen?"

Nia trembled, still trying to calm herself, beads of sweat dotting her forehead. "Would you believe I didn't?" She grinned gravely.

* * *

"There, I sent it," Mikhail said, with a final tap of his finger on the control board, briefly gazing up at the video feed. "And we've got every weapon available trained on the deck there; salvagers look ready to piss themselves at any moment."

He swiveled his chair back toward the nearby Jin. "I know it's probably too late to ask, but are you sure you're alright to go out there?"

The masked man's piercing blue eyes regarded for a moment, before attentively nodding his head.

Mikhail grimaced. "Ok… Just... be careful out there." With that he watched the stoic man trudge out the doorway, the door automatically sliding closed.

Finding himself alone again, the blonde turned his attention back to the video feed. The salvagers had congregated into a defensive mass on the opposite side of the ancient ship's deck as far away as possible from their own ship.

He sighed, trying his best to lay his own worries, even if he could still feel the sinking pit in his stomach trying desperately to sabotage this.

His fingers danced across the control panel, hitting a series of buttons causing the feed to flicker pulling up a yellow targeting overlay: a series of transparent boxes popping up over the salvagers while a circular reticle spun in the image's center.

"He's got this—"

Tapping two more buttons a pair of twin control sticks, each with individual triggers and various red buttons dotting them, to rise out of the console itself. Grabbing both of them, he maneuvered the reticle over the Salvager's ship, parking it over the stern.

"—Just have to do my part." He pulled one of the triggers.

* * *

Nia, with Dromarch and Rex in tow, continued at a strenuous pace finally reaching the oh-so-familiar staircase leading upwards.

They were nearly out of the oversized deathtrap.

"I just wanted to know that you were ok Nia." Rex apologized, lifting his foot to the first step.

The Gormotti girl grit her teeth. "When I said go: I meant that I wanted you to go join up with your salvager friends. Not wait for me like a lost puppy or—" Nia sighed shaking her head, not breaking her stride. "I just don't want you to die because you got sentimental for me."

"Nia..."

An explosion of sound rocked their ears, echoing around the room and down through the passageway they'd just come from. Her stomach had just about fallen into her feet, Nia stopped in place, as did the other two in her party, pausing in silence to listen.

Another minute passed and they could hear the sounds of the somewhat dampened sound of the falling rain.

"... What was that?" Rex eventually spoke up.

"I don't know... maybe something else on this hunk of junk finally went?" She remarked hopefully.

"But the only things that way are the entrance and the navigation room, Nia."

She turned back to him, instantly struck by the increasing worry on his face.

_He's right. Of course he's right. But going back isn't an option..._

Sighing, she anxiously rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand. "Alright, we'll be careful then. Just… Stay behind me and Dromarch, don't be a hero."

He nodded and they continued their ascent albeit at a much slower pace.

Nia kept her head on a swivel, and her cat-like ears perked for any sounds as they crept upwards. Now on her hands and knees, she surmounting the final step she carefully gazed around, immediately noting the rapidly growing puddle of water growing at the base of the final set of stairs. Though, strangely enough, aside from that nothing had really changed.

"Looks clear…" She whispered to the rest of them, slowly picking herself up to her feet.

Dromarch and Rex followed vigilantly, keeping an eye on their surroundings.

A flash of light flickered down the entryway, followed by a loud boom echoing around the room.

"Lightning and thunder…" Rex commented.

Nia cocked a brow at him.

"It probably started storming while we were inside. Maybe that's what we heard: the thunder."

She crossed her arms. He had a point, but she was still wary. "Let's just take a peek outside before we jump to conclusions here."

Quietly, they slinked up to the final set of stairs, the pitter-patter of rain clear in their ears and the smell of it on their noses. Rushes of wind howled, occasionally split by flashes of lightning and more booms of thunder.

Nearly laying flat against the stairs she hid her head beneath penultimate step. Soon after Rex and Dromarch joined as well, following her example.

Slowly Nia peeked her head up and over…

Her eyes immediately widened as they locked on to a familiar man with white hair standing out in the middle of the deck.

"Jin!" She nearly popped up from the step.

"Nia?!" Rex breathed, Dromarch equally as surprised.

"It's Jin, Rex! We can have him help us sort all this out!" she told him excitedly.

"Nia, I don't think—"

"C'mon!" She pulled him out into the open, not bothering to pull her suit's hood over her head, her eyes never leaving the man despite the downpour.

"Jin!" She called out to him, her bangs quickly soaking and matting itself to her forehead.

He turned to her, any expression or emotion hidden behind the mask he wore.

Just the sight of him was already helping her to relax. "Jin, it's Malos: He suddenly started acting crazy! He tried to kill Rex here after he touched this sword and—"

"Nia…" Rex growled uneasily.

She whipped her head in his direction. "What?" Then she noticed.

To her left: off the side of the ship the Monoceros was parked, all of its guns trained on the deck of the ship they stood on. To her right: the salvager's cowered with equal confusion and fear; a hefty plume of smoke rising from their ship's stern.

Amongst the downpour, she caught a mechanical whirring her left ear. Turning her head, she saw one of the Monoceros' cannons pointing right at them.

She turned back to the man she trusted, her eyes wide, and her mouth suddenly feeling foreign to her. "J-jin what's going on here? Why is Mikhail—" An icy cold hand grasped at her very being as she watched him unsheathe and draw his nodachi, and take a ready stance.

A deep pit in Nia's stomach opened up. "Jin?"

Then, in a flash, he was gone.

A wet thunk and a gasp came from behind her, followed shortly by something clattering to the ground. Nia turned to find Rex staring at the nodachi protruding out from his chest, mouth half agape, his hands shaking as they rose toward it.

With no words the sword was removed with a quick slippery yank.

Suddenly his expression slackened and drooped, a red splotch rapidly grew across his chest.

He stumbled toward her and began to fall forwards, almost in slow motion.

Nia's arms instinctively moved, catching and cradled him in them. "Rex?" Nia said the boy's name as she held his limp body, hoping he would answer, though one look at his glazed and blank eyes and she knew she'd never receive one.

He was gone. Rex was dead.

The crowd of the salvagers shifted nervously, a few audibly sobbing above the downpour. Suddenly, there was a sudden shift in the group. "You son of a—" A bald salvager yelled, trying to break free, his arms were flailing wildly. "Let me go! I don't care if— agh!" He never got his chance, as few better-minded salvagers forced him back.

The hand now tightened its icy grip, her small body becoming numb as her thoughts hazed and clouded.

She barely registered Dromarch's scratchy fur rubbing against her. "My lady… I'm sorry…" He said, his voice seeming distant.

She didn't bother responding, already lost in herself. The Gormotti still found her gaze rooted in the boy's frozen expression of fear, his mouth still slightly agape.

There was a familiar burning at the corners of her eyes, a few tears collected and dribbled downward quickly swallowed in the downpour. A horrible writhing in her stomach silently spurred a few more on.

The girl tried her best to steady her breathing as she set the boy's body down and quickly wiped at her eyes with her knuckles.

She didn't get it. Any of it.

None of this was right. Everything about this just felt wrong.

A sharp sound of something shattering drew her attention, red glowing particulate scattered itself at her knees. She raised her eyes to watch Jin, with a final flick of his nodachi, removed any remaining blood from his weapon.

_Why? _The Gormotti questioned herself. _Jin, why would you...?_

With drops of collecting rain falling from the tips of his hair, she watched the man walk past her, not sparing a second glance to the boy.

Silence. Not even a moment of hesitation. He'd killed an innocent child, and yet there was no regret for what he'd done.

Why kill someone who'd never wronged them?

"Why did you kill him?" Nia found herself speaking up, making the man pause. "Why kill Rex!?"

"Answer me! Jin!" She plead, her image of the man she'd trusted quickly crumbling before her very eyes.

"Ugh… What a waste of time..." An irritated Malos complained, emerging out onto the deck, lugging a familiar tube over his shoulder, Sever lagging behind as usual. Fresh blue blood washed off him in the downpour as, with uncaring eyes, he looked to her and then to the body lying at her feet. "I'm guessing she's having a fit over losing her toy?"

Nia's jaw clenched. "HE'S NOT A TOY DAMMIT!" She snapped. Malos' eyes widened, then he smirked. "You think this is funny!?" Nia nearly roared, red clawing at the edges of her vision, not noticing the water ripple at her feet.

Malos' smirk grew. "Funny?" He said, now sporting a full on grin. "Why yes, I DO find it funny that you'd would continue to dote over the corpse of your little toy like that. Considering its his own fault for touching what he shouldn't." He adjusted his grip on the casket. "Moreover," Malos began to close the distance between him and herself, "I really didn't appreciate you inconveniencing me with your moral quandary."

Her eye twitched as the dark-haired man now towered over her intimidatingly. "Normally, I'd have killed you for insubordination," He wiped some viscera from his forehead, "but I can be reasonable so I'll overlook your shortcomings." The Gormotti thinned her lips. "Nia. End them."

The response struck her. "E-end? Like, what?"

Malos tilted himself in the direction of the salvagers. "The price for their lives has already been paid in full; now that we finally have the Aegis…" He spun back to her, patting the casket over his shoulder. "The fewer living souls know about it, the better."

Nia froze, a sickening twinge in her stomach, as panic took over. "N-no!" The terror from each salvager stark to her. "I- I can't do that! These people haven't done anything wrong!" She clenched her fists.

The taller man reacted with a roll of his head, added with a few mutterings under his breath, carefully setting the casket down onto the deck. "Have you forgotten why you came here to begin with, Nia?" He asked, raising his head towards her, eyes narrowing predatorily upon doing so.

Nia instinctively took a step back. "N-no, but…"

_She hadn't forgotten the reason. But this—_

Suddenly she was being hoisted up by the collar of her suit.

She didn't even get time to struggle as Malos yanked her towards himself. "Make this difficult, and I'll end it right here." He growled ominously into her ear, instantly ending her struggles.

"My lady!" Dromarch yelped in surprise, his paws splashing through the water.

"Don't!" Nia twisted her head to her Blade, stopping him from leaping onto Malos. "I'm ok, just leave him!"

"Yes, listen to your master: Little Butler." Malos mocked, as the tiger hesitated and growled deeply.

"Malos!" Jin yelled, the hurried sounds of his boots clapping in the rain approached.

"I'm not going to kill her. Just going to illustrate the point I didn't get to make from the other day." Malos explained.

Jin's steps slowed and then finally stopped, still watching them hawkishly.

"I'll make this quick:" Malos hoisted her a little higher, the fabric of her suit strained. "All of this? It's just part of what we do."

Nia swallowed, unable to respond, doing her best to avoid eye contact. Malos grinned. "You having an issue with that fact?" The dark-haired man's wild grin faded to a pair of closed lips. "Well then you'd better get over it quick or you'd be better off curling up and dying right here."

His grip loosened and the Gormotti fell to the metal deck, her legs buckling beneath her as she landed next to Rex's lifeless corpse.

Dromarch was at her side in an instant. "My lady are you ok!?"

She didn't respond. "My lady?" Dromarch asked again, softer this time.

Nia looked to her Blade wordlessly.

Understanding, the tiger gestured to himself with his head. Without protest, she accepted the gesture and pressed her face into his soggy rough fur.

"Pff… typical." Malos whiffed, retrieving the casket and turned his attention back to stoic Jin, standing only a few steps away.

Nia's eyes closed, trying to shut out the world.

_They want me to kill all those salvagers… _Nia shut her eyes even harder. _But..._

The air was split by a series of disorienting explosion. Nia nearly jumped, scrambling as a series of brightly burning fires splashed across the Monoceros' hull sizzling with intense radiant heat.

Dromarch was already in front of her, shielding her from the heat. A number of screams and shrieks erupted from the salvagers.

"Holy shit!"

"What the hell was that!?"

"Were all gonna die!"

"Look! There! Did you see it?!"

Her eyes flew upward, barely just catching the shadow of something massive flapping its wings as it disappeared behind a cloud. She got to her feet, still scanning for the creature to return, as she reluctantly rejoined with a visibly angered Malos and still stoic Jin.

"Damage report!" Malos spoke hurriedly into the radio he'd pulled from his hip, his grip on the device tightening. "We'll handle things here, you just focus on the interloper." He snarled.

With her jaw tight, she drew near, Dromarch defensively stalked in front. Malos regarded her with a sidelong glance, narrowing his eyes at her, as the cannons of the Monoceros mechanically whirred, rotating themselves skywards.

An animalistic trill sang overhead, cutting through the downpour. She spotted the creature, dive-bombing toward them as an intense glow bloomed from its mouth.

Nia squinted, tracing it's features. Something about it nagged at her...

She could hear Dromarch audibly gasp, snapping to her, "My lady thats—!" just as she realized it as well.

"Azurda…" Jin spoke impassively, his head following the Titan's rapid descent.

The radio cracked and snapped violently. "That son-of-a-bitch is still kicking?!" Malos growled, dropping the bent and broken radio.

Nia's head swam. _How did they know—_

A familiar clink and metal sheathing, drew her back to reality. Nia's eyes widened, watching as Jin began to draw his Nodachi.

Malos snatched his arm, eliciting a wary look from the other man. The dark-haired man shook his head. A momentarily tense stare between the two and Jin's hand fell from the weapon's grip and returned it to its sheath; Malos hesitantly releasing Jin's arm

Nia swapped her gaze between the two tense men.

"_You sure about that?"_

"_How much do you really know about him?"_

How much **did** she truly know about Jin?

Powerful bangs and flashes from the Monoceros' flak guns peppered the air forcing the Titan into a barrel roll its flaming shots going wide and crashing harmlessly into the Cloud Sea.

The danger temporarily avoided, Malos turned back to her, his eyes cold. "Nia, 'take care' of the salvagers while we handle this." She glared at the taller man, not offering a word of resistance. Turning, she made one final act of defiance and approached Rex's corpse.

She knelt down, and with the care the boy deserved, quietly folded his arms over his chest. A glint near her leg drew her eyes revealing a strangely shaped emerald crystal. Tentatively, she picked it up, watching it glitter prettily. The beginnings of a sad smile pulled at lips as she snuck it under the boy's hands. The Gormotti lingered on his face for another moment or so. For some reason, she swore she could still see some color in his cheeks.

A mental shake brought her back and she quickly closing his eyes. She exhaled shortly and turned, finding that Malos' had not overlooked the action.

He stepped over the boy's body, carefully balancing the casket on his shoulder, making her back up and away. "You quite done being sentimental over your toy?"

Her eye twitched. "He was a person. A good innocent person. Not a toy." She responded quietly ducking her head.

"We doing this song and dance again Nia?" Malos provoked.

She bit her lip, thinly veiling her continued glower she held as met his gaze. Her awareness soon shifted, however, to a familiar green glow that had begun to emanate behind the black-armored Driver's back.

Another barrage of flak briefly lit up the deck. In flicker she saw none other than Rex, his eyes remaining closed, as his body was pulled upwards by the green glow on his chest, then gently set down onto his feet.

Nia's eyes bugged out, her voice caught in her throat as her mouth slowly fell slack. Watching as Rex's hand opened and materialized the ancient sword within it, his back straightening as he brought it to his chest.

Malos' cocked an eyebrow, noticing her dumbfounded look, and turned around as more flak fire lit up the deck.

"Oh you've gotta be—"

Was all Malos could get out before the casket on his shoulder suddenly imploded, a massive firestorm engulfed them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. I finally got around to posting this here. 
> 
> I really wanted to explore Nia's mind here and to contrast her reaction with Malos' brutality and Jin's indifference.   
How well did I do? Interesting? Anything? 
> 
> Feedback is always nice. And seeing people interested always get those happy chemicals in my brain going.


	7. Ch:1-5 pt3

Rex instinctively gasped as something cold ran through him. He looked down to find something metallic protruding from his chest.

Confused, his hands slowly rose towards it.

"Don't take it personally. It's an act of mercy." A voice whispered to him, as the object was pulled back through him. "At least you won't be alive to see what is coming."

He stumbled forwards, now free of its grasp, vision tunneling with darkness. Feeling faint, he looked to Nia, struck by the look of shock on her face.

His legs gave in beneath him and he fell.

…

…

…

…

...

"Aah!" Rex sat up with start, immediately blinded by a bright light.

He cringed from the visual overload, quickly shutting and rubbing his golden eyes with his hands, while a gentle cool breeze slipped over and the grass below tickled his bare skin. In the distance he could songbirds chirp faintly, while the chime of a far-off bell rang out intermittently.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and observed the area around him.

A field of grass surrounded him, occasionally broken up by a shrub or white wildflowers, it's edges marked by a thick treeline obscuring anything beyond with a dense collection of foliage. The sky was a clear blue, puffs of clouds lazily floating through it on their wayward journey to the horizon and the great beyond after.

"Where... am I...?" He mumbled to himself, gazing around in puzzlement.

Rex tried his best to recall, only to remember himself falling. He shifted and turned to find a small raised knoll a fair distance away with a singular tree at its summit. At the tree's base he could make out a figure standing unmoving.

_A person? Maybe they'd know where I am..._

With a small grunt he pushed himself off the ground, and lightly jogged for the hillock. As he did the distant chimes of the bell grew louder, originating from the other side of the knoll. His curiosity growing along with his pace, he drew near, finally slowing down to a few scuffed steps as he closed in.

The figure he'd spotted was a girl, and a familiar one at that, evidenced by her shorter crimson hair, strange skin-tight material over her shoulders, and hot pants hugging her notable posterior.

_The girl from the casket… But then..._

She had her back turned to him, taken to leaning against the tree with one hand, while staring off into the distance. the elongated decorated strips of cloth attached near the base of her neck blew gently in the wind.

Somehow he found the image to be sad. Was she lonely?

He blinked and swallowed, realizing he'd left his mouth open, his tongue dry like sandpaper. "Um… e-excuse me?" He said, nervously stumbling over his words.

Another breeze blew past, far away the chimes again rung with equal measure, echoing sadly. "It's such a mournful sound…" The girl said wistfully.

Rex blinked, not sure if she was even aware of him.

"It hasn't stopped." Her voice was small and quiet. "Not… Not in all these years…"

_Hasn't stopped… Does she mean the bell sound? _He cocked his head, and surveyed the surrounding tree line, trying to spot the source of the sound. _Is the Praetorium somewhere nearby…?_

He turned back to her, pursing his lips. With a small exhale he summoned up his courage and slowly approached. "Uh… Where are we?" Rex asked.

"This is… Eden." She said, not moving while Rex's ears perked. "The land where, long ago, mankind lived in harmony with their creator. It's where… 'We' were born."

He stopped, standing just a few feet behind her. "_We?" _He questioned, before looking out over the crest of the summit.

A breath caught in his throat as his feet carried him just a step further, to fully take in what he was seeing.

It was picturesque, like it had been lifted right from the books he'd read as a child.

This: This truly was Eden. A place where everyone could live in peace and harmony.

In the distance he could see a clear blue lake, with a small podunk village just a little ways away from it. Among the various houses a church with a slowly swinging bell at its front caught his attention. Beyond roving lands of green and trees stretched almost endlessly.

It was perfect. As he'd always imagined.

"You… You were born here?" Rex asked uneasily, eyes wide as he slowly turned back to the girl, briefly noting the neutral expression she carried before she likewise turned to him with a carefully measured smile of her own.

The effect was immediate, as his face flushed. Acting quickly, he pulled his gaze from her face and traveled downwards, noticing the crystal located over her the center of her collarbone. "Whoa… That's a core crystal…" He gasped, leaning his head closer to get a better look at the object. "That means… You're a Blade…"

The girl nodded, her smile sweet. "My name is Pyra."

Rex, yet again, quickly averted eye contact, shuffling back a step or two. "Oh, uh… Introductions. Right." He fumbled, nervously scratching at his cheek. "My name is—"

"Mmm, I know you. You're Rex." Pyra responded, saying his name with an almost familiar smile and a tilt of her head.

Still flustered, Rex paused as he locked eyes with her. "How... did you know my name?" He asked honestly, properly facing her now.

"Before, when we made contact." She explained, cupping both her hands together as she brought them to her chest.

Rex creased his brow. "Before?" He rubbed the back of his neck as he observed his surroundings, trying again to remember. "Sorry, I'm not sure what you're talking about…" He apologized shaking his head.

"That's alright," She said, as her expression melted and became somber, "here." Pyra held out the weapon he'd used to deflect Malos' attack in both her hands. "You were holding this when..."

Rex looked from her to the weapon tentatively, before slowly taking it.

For a moment he gazed at the stubby object in his hands, before a shot of cold rant through him.

The weapon fell from his grasp, and landed with a soft *whomp* in the grass. Both of his hands shot to the exact spot where he had been, clutching tightly as he covered his mouth trying not to gag.

"I-I'm dead…" It felt weird to say. "I died." His legs slowly carried him astray, his mind trying to process this fact, before he collapsed under the implied consequences.

Now on his hands and knees, he found anger bubbling up within him. His hands curled into fists. "DAMMIT! That bastard, I should've just—" He slammed the dirt, "Of all the- Nia— everyone is in danger and here I am! Dead! I'd— SHIT!" He continued to pummel the dirt till he ran out of energy and slumped down, breathing heavily.

He could feel frustration building within him once again, when he heard soft steps rustle the grass as they approached. Feeling Pyra's eyes on him, he softly exhaled and picked his head up to find her standing nearby, her fingers laced over her stomach.

Her expression was neutral again, tinged with a frown. "Rex, if you'd have me, I'd like to ask something of you." He sat up properly, listening carefully. "Can you… take me to Eden?" Her hands tightened their grip on one another.

He raised a brow in questioning. "Eden? But… Isn't that here?"

"This image, or world if you would, is merely a memory. An ancient, half-forgotten memory of what once was…" She bowed slightly toward him. "The real Eden lies in your world. In Alrest, it locates itself atop what some people may refer to as 'The World Tree' or its true name: 'Yggdrasil'."

Rex hardened his gaze at the Blade. He wasn't completely sure he understood what she spoke of with this world or hers, but if Eden did truly exist then… He shook his head. "But there's no way. I'm dead, remember?" He put a hand over his chest for effect. "If I can't breathe then how am I to…" He faltered, hands clenching once more into fists.

"Rex." He looked to see Pyra raise a hand to the crystal on her chest. "I will give you half my life force," her brow fell and a look of sadness marked her features, "That way… You may be revived…" The girl's thumb circled the crystal slowly. "As my Driver. The Driver of the Aegis."

Rex's features crunched into contemplation. "The Driver of the Aegis?" He repeated. "But I'm not a—"

"What will you do Rex?" Pyra asked him, staring deeper into her own crystal.

It took Rex a moment to process what she was asking of him, a girl he'd met only once before was giving him a choice: become her Driver and get a second chance, or suffer permanent death.

In exchange, she was asking of him was to achieve something that was nearly impossible, but then again… Wasn't that part of his dream as well?

He swallowed and steeled himself. "Pyra, this place, is it really your home?"

The Aegis nodded, "It is." her hand slid over her entire core crystal and a look of quiet determination appearing in her face.

"And it really exists?"

A sad smile played across the Pyra's lips. "Rex, I know what you're thinking, and you are correct." She said, as another light breeze blew past both of them. "By...coming to this place…you could save Alrest. Save it from its slow demise that is its fate."

"_We wouldn't have to live in fear."_

Rex's eyes wandered the ground as his own words echoed back to him. Even if she was lying to him, why do all of this? She wouldn't lose anything from him declining, save his own true demise.

He glanced up once more to Blade before him, her expression one that spoke of her own desire to see his dream through as well.

Rex nodded, raising his head.

"Then there's only one choice." He grinned confidently, and closed the distance to meet her. "Alright, let's go to Eden. I'll take you there myself!" He said, beating a hand to his own chest.

For a moment, the girl was speechless with surprise. She recovered and smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Rex." She said, and for a moment, looked as if she might start to cry.

Pyra removed the hand from her crystal, allowing him full view of it. "Now, place your hand on my chest."

Rex flushed a little at the Aegis's choice of words, only to be met with her same grateful smile. Guess all those years of Lily's teasing were paying off. His gaze traveled down to the crystal, now pulsing and whirring with energy.

The Aegis closed her eyes, her expression muted, as he reached a tentative hand toward the crystal hovering his finger just above it.

A pulse hummed through his ears as he touched the crystal completing the connection between the both of them. The strange feeling he'd felt earlier when touching the sword returned in force as bright green energies flowed out of the crystal and into his own chest. A bright dazzling light filled his vision, and suddenly the entire area burst into a raging inferno; mass quantities of ether being released.

High above: within the spider web of branches of the lone tree: a lone observer bore witness to this exchange with reserved interest. Then, just as quickly as the flames had erupted, they were extinguished, leaving only the grass blackened and Rex and Pyra nowhere to be seen.

With a yawn, they carefully clambered down through the foliage and branches, landing softly in the grass. With an idle stretch of their arms, they stepped over to the tree and slid down the trunk onto their bottom. It only took them a few moments of their eyes fluttering with a few more sporadic yawns before they fell back into their deep slumber once again.

* * *

For a moment everything, her entire body, seared with pain. The flames smothered her as they burned and tore not only at her skin but her core. The very air around her was sucked away with the heat, as it howled like a wild animal.

Then she was tackled, the flames gone, now replaced with the cool relieving splash of water.

A long pause passed as she lay sprawled out, feeling the sobering touch the wet metal beneath her and the prickling of the cold rain striking her from above.

One sensation for another... whiplash was probably the best word for it.

She slowly drew breath, cold air punching her in the back of the throat. Yep. Definitely still alive. A series of pants beside her brought the girl out of her mental and physical haze. She peered over to find Dromarch's white mug swallowing her vision. "My lady, are you alright?"

"Oogh… Dromarch…?" Nia slowly picking herself up, skin still stinging somewhat. "I'm ok, I think. But you…" She noted the various scorched and frayed areas in her Blade's fur.

"Purely superficial my lady. Though," He glanced back to his own pelt, wincing a bit, "I fear I may need to be thoroughly groomed later."

Nia frowned, lingering on a particularly blackened patch, then glanced down to herself. Aside from a few singed bits of her outfit, few damaged hairs, and pinkened areas of skin; she appeared to be fine. Looking back up, she saw her Blade had taken to licking the raw portions of his fur.

She reached and gently pat his head, eliciting a puzzled look from the Blade. "Thank you for saving me Dromarch." She said genuinely, mindful not to irritate his burns. The Blade purred and bowed lightly, as they both turned to the rotating pillar of flames nearby, watching as it eerily rose high into the sky.

"...This appears to be the power of that weapon Master Jin and Malos were after…" Dromarch proposed.

Nia thinned her lip, the last few minutes replaying in her mind. It all seemed so surreal, like it was all like a fever dream… She had to be sure. "Dromarch," The girl turned to her Blade, "you saw him right? Rex, I mean?"

Before the Blade could answer the rotating firestorm before them collapsed downwards and splashed outwards, its flames dying out harmlessly. In its wake, a very much alive Rex stood, the ancient weapon reassembled, now glowing with a burning emerald beam of ether energy. Next to him: the girl from the casket very much awake and free.

_Rex! And that girl…_

Standing opposite him was a visibly pissed and on edge Malos, Sever beside him ready to leap into action. An unscathed Jin remaining further back, arms visibly crossed.

_He's not fighting?_

She noticed Malos ever so slightly jerk his head in her direction, brow knotting, as if to say: _"_Stay out the hell out of my way."

Dim blue strings of ether tied both the boy and man to their Blades, and she rose to her feet, snatching a ring from her waist. Power welled up within her. Dromarch reading himself to charge.

That is until she noticed Jin gazing at her critically.

A sudden intense feeling of anxiety overtook her as a barrage of flak cracked overhead.

She found herself helplessly rooted to the spot watching as Rex rushed Malos down, Their weapons colliding and rung with sharp clangs.

"Are we not going to help Sir Rex, my lady?" Dromarch asked befuddled.

The Gormotti bit her lip, as her chest tightened.

"My lady?"

* * *

Rex stumbled back as their weapons collided. Malos sneered and advanced, bearing his tonfa down on him, the boy side-stepping and deflecting the follow-up.

"Sorry kid," Malos barked, flourishing his own weapon as they both backstepped, "but I can't let you have her power."

Rex narrowed his eyes, his grip tightened on the hilt of the sword.

The other Driver gestured his tonfa toward him. "This is as far as you go."

"I'm right here, Rex." The girl assured, a golden aura kicked up around him.

Warmth and energy surged through his muscles, everything now seemed so much clearer, more detailed. Especially the scowl on Malos' face.

Rex couldn't help but respond with a smile of his own.

His opponent bent his knee preemptively the crease in his forehead deepening. Rex mirrored him in kind.

Malos' rushed forwards with an overhead strike. Bracing, he was able to block it momentarily distracted by a dark blur speeding past, failing to notice their edges slip.

It was a calculated move, and the boy suddenly found his sword awkwardly traveling sideways, just catching the tonfa approaching his head.

In the midst of this he felt his link with Pyra sever itself. His body felt a lot heavier now as he leaned into his momentum, clumsily somersaulting as the tonfa narrowly missing clipping his head.

Stiffly, Rex scrambled to his feet, barely catching sight of Pyra dodging a swing from Sever, as well as a booted foot traveling toward him. He intercepted the kick with his weapon sending him airborne.

"Rex!" He heard Pyra yelp, as he flew through the air and belly-flopped back onto the deck.

Wet, sore, and slightly dazed, he struggled to get up. Even with the adrenaline in his system, without Pyra he was already feeling the strain and ache in his newly revived and tired muscles.

Rex struggled to his feet as he watched in vain as Malos passed the tonfa to an already airborne Sever, releasing a massive cross-shape burst of ether directly at him.

"Shi—" he flinched, as Pyra appeared and leapt in front of him, crossing her hands as she threw up a barrier of ether.

His ears rang with a loud bang, the barrier glowed harshly absorbing the blast.

He felt himself once again swathed in her link, his muscles reigniting with energy. "Thanks, Pyra!" Rex said getting to his feet, regaining his composure.

"Your welcome." She nodded, her barrier dissipated. "Now, don't let up!"

Rex charged, Sever meanwhile using the tonfa to fire off more projectiles. Pyra covered his advance with her barrier.

Their scuffle was slowly drifting toward his fellow salvagers, the group still paralyzed with fear.

The metal bottoms of his boots squealed as he skidded and he haphazardly baseball bat swung at his opponent.

Malos effortlessly leaned out of his attack, ducked down and lunged towards his sword hand. He grit his teeth, instinctually pulling his arm out of reach. A hint of a smirk played on the older man's lips now reaching upwards at him.

"C-crap!" Rex started to fall backward. He found himself suddenly righted, Pyra quickly yanking him out of harm's way. He stumbled, retreating backward.

Rex seethed in frustration. "Dammit! I can't get a solid hit on him!"

"Rex," Pyra interjected, "Don't let him get to you. Try again, and this time: just do what comes naturally."

He briefly looked to the taller woman, her calm smile reassuring him. Nearby, the salvagers watched with bated breath.

"... Alright." The boy nodded, noting Sever had rejoined with Malos; the Blade tossing the tonfa back to its Driver, preparing for a second assault.

He took a deep breath, wrapping both hands around the grip, and Malos charged full steam at him.

His arms burned with exertion as he blocked the first blow and weaved past the second, quickly reversing his swing and managing to bat it aside. _There!_ Rex launched himself, slamming his shoulder into the man's torso.

The guard-breaker worked, as Malos briefly staggered back. Seizing his chance, he surged and continued his counterattack, the dark-haired man putting a bit more effort into blocking. In the confusion, he quickly cleaved upwards knocking the tonfa from Malos' hand.

This was the moment he'd been waiting for.

"Everyone, go! Run!" he yelled back to the salvagers, aggressively pursuing as an army of footsteps began to rumble.

Malos' eyes lit up as he suddenly leapt back. A flash appeared in Rex's peripheral.

He flinched: an explosion swept his feet right out from under him. "Rex!" Pyra was already picking him up, as he shook the stars from his vision.

Malos had somehow leapt atop the helm of the ship, his weapon shifting to resemble a spiraled sword.

One problem: the man wasn't looking at him.

_What's he—_ Rex cast a look behind in time to see a struggling Spraine being forcefully dragged up the boarding plank.

His eyes bulged, snapping back to Malos a swirl of energy engulfing the man's sword.

Frantically, he searched for a way up, to no avail. He started to panic. A hand gently touched the guard of his weapon. "Rex," Pyra confided, thrums of warmth pulsed through him, "your weapon is much more than just a sword."

Still staring at Malos, and with Pyra's words echoing in his mind, he felt something brimming along his blade's edge, urging him to swing and release it.

So he did.

Much to his own surprise, a draft of heat blasted across Rex's face, making his eyes water, and a scythe of flame flew from the sword's edge, rocketing through the air.

He didn't have time to gape, as Pyra sided up to him taking hold the sword joining his hand with her own.

"Pyra?!"

"Rex, were jumping, follow my lead." She was already bending her knees.

"Al-alright!" He swallowed, following her instruction.

A gold veil surrounded them both, their connection spiking with energy. The focal point: the weapon they shared.

They both jumped, Rex finding himself rapidly ascending far up into the air as he saw the projectile impact with a stifled bang and resulting smoke, Malos forced to slice it in half.

Determination gifted from his new partner bloomed within him, and sword now combusted.

Gravity finally took hold as they careened forwards into the smoke.

* * *

An explosion briefly deafened her, a blast of heat stealing her breath. Shots of fear from Dromarch echoed, etching themselves in her mind.

"My lady!"

Nia's hands tightened their grip on her rings, giving one last glance to the man she'd once trusted.

"Dromarch." The name left her, sounding heavier than she'd intended.

"My lady?"

* * *

Rex's vision adjusted, jaw set and teeth bared. Still suspended in the air, his weapon met another and locked, crackling caustically.

"Damn brat…" The smoke slowly cleared revealing a familiar tonfa, Malos' face mere inches from his own. Waves of ether blew in their faces. The man's eyes narrowed at his own. "How can a nobody like you…?!" He growled, clearly exerting himself now.

There was a flash of recognition. "Ah, but those eyes…" His lips curled into a smirk. "I should've been wary from the start…"

Rex's upper lip stiffened defiantly. "You going to stop speaking in tongues?"

A hand grasped for his chest forcing Pyra to pull them out of reach through the air.

"Predictable!"

Sever dove from the helm at them, tackling Pyra away with a squeal and down to the deck below. Rex didn't get the chance to yell to her as their link broke and he slammed into solid metal.

Rex groaned and coughed weakly. Fatigue was back in full force now, his thoughts were cloudy but one thing was for sure: everything hurt.

A whirring in his ears told him the Maelstrom was able to make a getaway even with the damage it had sustained.

_At least they were able to get away…_ He forced himself to his feet, his every muscle screaming to stop.

Rex looked around disoriented. _Pyra?_ The girl was a short distance away wrestling with the Blade for control. He tried to speak, but it only came out as a strained gurgle. A hand went to his throat, confused.

Try as he might, he couldn't breathe, his chest had been collapsed.

A heavy thump drew his attention to see Malos land heavily on deck, and approach. He fumbled for the weapon that wasn't there. His vision blurring, as he searched for it.

Flak popped in his ears, an explosion or two impacting distantly illuminating Malos' cold smoldering eyes. A chill ran up his neck, forehead buzzing. "Rex!" He heard Pyra yell for him from afar, dodging under one of Sever's strikes.

A faintly glowing object a few steps away caught his attention. He lifted a leg, only to stiffly stumble and fall onto his stomach like a toddler. He looked up, that man was nearly on top of him, his intent more than clear now. Murder.

* * *

Nia tightly gripped, her Blade's fur in her hands. "Now!"

The tiger unleashed a shockwave of water, straight at Malos, skidding to a halt in front of him, Sever blocking the shot with a barrier of his own.

"Nia… You…" Rex rasped from behind.

She grinned tiredly at the kid. "Sorry for the delay. Don't worry, I'm here now."

"Nia…" Malos growled, shaking.

Her anger flared. "It's enough Malos! Just stop!"

His mouth twitched. "You're not thinking straight Nia," He recovered, pointing his tonfa in her direction, "and you're pissing me off!"

Sever sped forwards, Dromarch jumped left to evade, Nia brandishing a ring, failing to notice Malos lunge and snake an arm around her, yanking her from Dromarch's back.

"Let me go!" Nia squealed. The tiger roared, leaping towards them only to have a foot plant itself in his skull and kick him away. "Dromarch!" She struggled, Malos' hold on her tightening.

"Malos!" A distinctly feminine voice shouted, Sever skidding back and past them.

Nia's snapped to the voice. It was the girl, defensively pointing her weapon in their direction, emerald eyes fixated.

"Hello there Aegis. Been a while hasn't it?" Malos greeted lowly. "I see you've gone and made the kid your Driver…"

_Aegis? Rex is her…? _Nia's eyes swapped from the Aegis to Rex, the girl having smartly positioned herself over the boy.

"Let her go Malos."

"This brat?" He gestured, Nia feeling him loosen his grip ever so slightly. "You sure? She's been awful selfish lately."

The Gormotti stretched her hand towards the hunting knives on her belt...

"And what's with that appearance anyw—" The deck began to rumble horribly beneath them.

Out of the clouds the Titan jumped and soared mere feet over their heads, colliding head-on with the Monoceros with a heavy crunch, nearly capsizing the vessel, and began tearing it's guns asunder, it's maw dripping molten flames.

Nia wrapped her hand around the grip of the knife and pulled, quickly jamming it into his thigh. "Urgh!" She twisted out of his arm, and dove out of the way as the Aegis charged him down.

The two collided noisily. The Aegis swung her weapon deftly; Malos, meanwhile, hard-pressed to keep up, pirouetting.

"My lady!" The Blade was at her side again, ring clutched in his mouth, as she got to her feet.

"Dromarch?! —Where's Rex?" Nia yelled above the gunfire spotting the boy unsteadily getting to his feet, holding his stomach painfully.

She ripped over to him. "Rex!" The Gormotti grabbed and supported him as he got to his feet. "It's alright. It's ok. I'm here." She said, noticing a small glowing 'X-shaped' crystal glowing on his chest.

"Is that... Gramps?" Rex groaned hoarsely, blearily staring at the Titan as it tore a missile pod from its mount like fruit from a branch.

"Gramps…?" She gazed at the Titan.

"_Think bigger."_

"Where's she!? Where's Pyra?" He said, his voice returning.

"Huh?" Nia looked up in the direction of the battle.

Malos pushed against the Aegis' guard forcing her into a backflip with an added twist in the air. He bounded after her, the Aegis' launching fireballs, backpedaling.

A sharp crack rang out as the Monoceros' guns began to fire once more, Forcing the Titan to falter and dive off back into the clouds. The guns now turned on the two crossing blades.

"Look out!"

The Aegis deflected a glancing blow, haphazardly throwing up a shield. The area lit up with a powerful explosion. Malos wasn't as lucky, and was launched into the railing with a heavy thump.

"Stop!" Rex broke from her hands, recklessly stumbling over to the girl.

"Rex- agh! Wait!" The remaining guns loading another volley. "SHIT!"

"Dromarch!" The Blade was already sprinting as she jumped onto his back. A telltale clicking in her ears, telling her she only had a few seconds to spare.

_Oh, come on!_

They skidded in front of the boy and the Aegis.

"Nia, what are you—?!"

"Just shut up and stay behind me!" She yelled back, bracing for the oncoming barrage with a barrier of their own.

_This is going to hurt. This is REALLY going to hurt!_

Her prediction proved correct as a spray of gunfire doused them, their strength quickly beginning to wane; Dromarch already sagging a little. "C'mon just a little longer…!"

"Nia! Left!"

Her eyes swept over to a see a lone cannon pointed in her direction.

She grimaced, and inhaled sharply.

* * *

Nia wasn't exactly sure how, but for some reason, she was hurtling through the air.

Cold smacks of wind whipped her hair every which way. everything seemed to be hazy and moving slower than it was supposed to.

She looked over and saw the deck of The Ark leaving her, the realization of her situation dawning on her.

Her vision dimmed, spatters of rain stung her face.

She looked down. Nothing but clouds beneath her.

In hindsight, it was a bit silly to think she'd even attempt to block something like that, and for a kid she'd only met a day or so ago no less.

_Did I make a mistake? _She wondered. There was a sudden jolt, and she found herself suddenly suspended in the air by her arm.

Half-conscious she looked up.

Speak of the devil: Rex, engulfed in a golden aura, was holding on for dear life to her forearm. Her hearing was muffled, but she could see he was yelling something to her.

She couldn't help but sadly smile.

With that the girl's eyes rolled up into her head, and she knew only darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, there we are.  
I know its basically one big fight scene but was it still engaging? I tried my best to keep it interesting throughout.  
Feel free to tell me your thoughts.


	8. Ch:1 Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying out new dividers for stuff since I think using plain lines all the time can get somewhat confusing to denote certain things.

Mikhail was thrown from his chair clotheslining with the console, before the floor beneath him rocked, tossing him backward face-first into the side of his chair.

The side of his head throbbed painfully, and he groaned pulling himself from the floor. His ears deafened by the sounds of alarms blaring and the walls around him creaked dangerously.

With a shake, he yanked himself back into the chair, hands skipping over the buttons in front of him. The feed switched to an over the top view: showing the massive attacker systematically tearing off his guns one by one: beady eyes wild, it's mouth dripping caustically with fire.

Something warm trickled slowly past his ear as he grasped the triggers. "Tough bastard…" He snarked. "Here's some right back!" The screen lit up, the walls shuddering as he pounded round after round into the beast. Another groan from the metal, and the Titan dove away.

"Hurts doesn't it!" The blonde thundered.

His revelry was short-lived as flashes from the deck drew his attention. Not missing a beat, he swiveled his attention, hand jamming a pair of orange buttons, fingers ready to pull the trigger at any moment.

Hesitation hit him in the chest, as two rectangles frantically swept across his view.

"Who's—" He adjusted the zoom, recognizing a whirl of dark purple and glow of emerald in the flurry.

"Ah." Mikhail's eyes narrowed as his reticle pursued the pair. The shapes rapidly danced before him, closely intertwined with one another. He'd have to be precise with his shot. A short smattering of sparks, and the emerald glow slowed while the reticle locked.

"Gotcha." He bit, pulling the trigger.

His video feed bloomed with light, the targeting display scrambling while the hull rumbled lightly. A few tense seconds passed before the feed began to clear.

"C'mon… c'mon… tell me I got her…"

Unfortunately, his pleas fell on deaf ears as a dim glow emerald stared back at him, a single rectangle quickly being drawn around it.

Not wasting any time, he pulled the triggers again. They only answered with a hollow thunk. "Oh you've gotta be—" He tried again, his hands gripping even tighter this time. Yet again, another hollow thunk dotted the air. "You're kidding me!?" He whined.

Flickering in his peripheral made him look up. Another rectangle came into view, rushing to the other's side.

"Another...?" Mikhail thumbed the zoom, bringing it into view. The kid from earlier held and stabilized the Aegis, while she tried to recover from the blast. "So that kid's still kicking…" He buzzed, tapping another button. A series of clicks echoed through the hull. "Fine, makes it easier for me anyway."

It took a second or three before the clicks finally ended. "Rather not make a mess but I'm getting desperate here..." He re-gripped the triggers, centering it on his target.

"No hard feelings." The blonde's fingers were already snapping down.

A third and fourth rectangle sped in front of the other two. Mikhail's jaw tightened as the guns rumbled and spun up overhead.

Instead of a quick and precise spray, he found himself hitting a large glowing spiderwebbed wall.

"Who the—" Mikhail swapped feeds to the stern and peered around the bubble, finding none other than a Gormotti girl atop her Blade. " Nia?! Snowball!?" He hesitated, his finger hovering over the button for his stern-side cannon.

_Nia why are you…?_

His finger tip graced the button, and yet he still didn't press down. He searched her face through the feed, looking for some sort of indication to why she was defending the kid.

Dromarch started to sag, Nia similarly so, as gunfire continued to pummel the shield.

Biting his lip, he shook any remaining thoughts away, silently apologizing as he pushed it.

The shot struck and the effect was instant: The shield overloaded and flared with bright white light then suddenly backfired, violently imploding, his view obscured by the resulting smoke.

"Did that do it?" He flicked through what feeds hadn't been destroyed, eventually switching to the single remaining feed on the starboard section of the bow.

His leg bounced nervously, a hand still firmly grasping the trigger as his eyes scanned the smoke. Something flickered in the corner of his vision and he jerked the reticle towards it, centering on a golden glow. He slammed the trigger, expecting another fierce rumble from the guns, but instead he was answered with a dangerous rattle.

His brow creased, and he hit the triggers again. The same thing: another rattle echoed. He caught a whiff of something burning. "Oh you've got to be—" A loud bang made him flinch, only opening his eyes in time to catch the the console panel now careening towards him.

The last he heard before darkness snapped shut over his consciousness was the dull bong of metal colliding with him.

**… … …**

Mikhail awoke to a throbbing in his face, focused mainly in his nose. Briefly, he wrestled with the idea of actually touching it when he became aware of the cool touch of metal below him. It took him a moment before he realized he was sprawled across the floor like a discarded doll.

He could hear the whines of various alarms sounding, and ringing in his ears. He picked himself up feeling a headache coming over him. Doing his best to open his eyes, he was surprised at how incredibly puffy his face felt.

Tapping a button on one of the intact consoles, he silenced the alarms, not completely turning them off as he became preoccupied by the tightness in his skin, particularly in his nose.

"Oogh… shit…" The blonde grumbled, now going ahead and lightly feeling at it, noticing how worryingly bulbous it felt while the rest of his senses began to take full stock of his situation.

The air was soiled with the scent of ozone, the control console had blown the top of its casing taking all the screws and connectors with it. The triggers had as well as been partially melted by the resulting explosion.

Thoughts buzzed as his brain restarted and recollected what had happened. His attention was pulled to the still running feed of The Ark's deck. He immediately spotted Jin stoically posed among a few lingering flames, while Sever hunched over something a small distance away.

"They got away didn't they?" He voiced the question aloud, half-expecting some voice on high to answer. Instead, the distant pattering of rain against the Monoceros' hull were the only thing to answer his question.

A heavy sigh escaped him. Frustration and anger built, not only at their failure to capture The Aegis, but also for allowing himself to be knocked out at such a critical moment. His teeth ground and he seethed, slamming a closed fist down onto the console hitting it much harder than he'd initially meant to.

"Ok… Ok…" His fist throbbing, he idly rubbed it, doing his best to take even breaths. "Calm down, Jin and Malos are—" Wait. Did he ever see Malos? A rolling ball of anxiety appeared in his gut making him snap to the video feed.

It only grew worse when he noticed Sever was actually tending to someone. He zoomed in and went cold with what he saw.

"Oh noo..." His stomach tightened, that ball of anxiety quickly turning to guilt. "Don't tell me..."

He didn't realize his legs were already moving until he was halfway to the door.

* * *

The blonde pressed the button and the hatch slowly pulled out and tilted upwards. A cold gust of air rushed inwards past him, followed closely by spats of rain.

He ran a hand through his hair, eyeing the sustained rainfall. With a decisive puff from his lips, he pushed out into the deluge. Just a few steps out and he found himself rapidly soaked. He made his way over to the trio.

They were quiet but he could already tell the mood was palpably morose, due to Malos, who, of course, the video feed didn't do any justice for. Judging by how his damaged armor —currently, scored and chipped, with shallow flecks of metal embedded sporadically— Mikhail's fears were realized as he had more than likely caught him in the crossfire. Add to that: a nasty looking bruise blotched across the side of his head, and Mikhail's guilt grew more, a lump forming in his throat.

The three of them looked to him warily. He felt like a spotlight was shining down on him. The blonde grimaced, preparing for the worst.

Jin was the first to approach. "How bad is the damage?" He spoke with a muted intonation.

Mikhail blinked, surprised. "Uh, I mean…" He shifted uneasily, looking back at the vessel: struck by how many dents, deep scratches, and violent discolorations marred its hull.

"Mikhail."

He snapped back to the masked man. "R-right. Um, besides the obvious," Nodding toward the ship, "and a few weapons system malfunctions, there doesn't appear to be damage to any critical systems. I'll need to check a few things but we should be able to move whenever we're ready."

"... Good."

A series of coughs made him stiffen as they both drew their attention to Malos. Sever supported the man's heaving chest as he hocked up a gob of something dark. Mikhail grimaced, quietly biting his lip feeling a chill whispering down his neck.

"Don't look at me like that Mik," Malos spoke scratchily, looking away as he roughly wiped his mouth. "I'll be fine."

"His wounds are mostly surface level," Jin informed coldly.

He looked between them warily, waiting for one of them to lambast him for not stopping the Aegis from escaping. A moment passed, then a minute, after that a couple more followed with no chastisements thrown his way.

Mikhail's brow creased, as he looked between the two men. Both were in similar states of quietness. From what he could tell they didn't appear to be angry by their apparent failure to capture the Aegis, nor his friendly fire for that matter. Rather—

A slow creaking echoed up from beneath the metal deck, while another cold gust blew past making him shiver.

"Mikhail," Jin spoke again, making the blonde turn. "Help carry Malos onto the Monoceros."

A grunt nearby drew his attention, as he saw Sever already working to hoist the Driver up. Noting the subtle but distant look in Malos' eyes, he nodded quietly. Maneuvering himself, he took on some of the Driver's weight, draping a free arm over his own shoulder.

"You got your side, Sever?" The Blade answered with a nod. "Alright, on 3 then: 1, 2, and… 3!" They both lifted the man up by his shoulders off the ground. He briefly struggled, legs wobbling slightly. The man was much heavier than he'd initially realized.

Following some hijinks they shuffled towards the Monoceros' open hatch. As they did a Malos grunted and cleared his throat of what Mikhail assumed to hopefully just be more phlegm. "Hey Mik," He asked, almost casually.

"Save your strength, don't talk." Mikhail requested speedily, not to be disarmed by his casual tone.

"About before," The Driver continued regardless, clearing his throat noisily again, "don't bother worrying about it."

Mikhail shifted his eyes sidelong, cautiously observing Malos' as he seemingly forced a grin, and shook his head dismissively about something.

"What is it?"

"Nevermind, it's nothing." He chuckled to himself.

The blonde adjusted his grip on the man's arms. "No, go ahead." He was getting curious now. "Unless you're doing that thing right now."

"What? Being a dick?" Malos hummed lowly. "No no, it's just kinda silly that you'd worry about me is all." The blonde meanwhile pursed his lips, slowly rolling them. The man quietly snickered to himself as they finally stumbled out of the rain and back onto the Monoceros.

Inside, they gently placed the Driver down against one of the walls. Mikhail found his eye drawn once again to Malos' wounds, now crystal clear in the fluorescent lights. The metal flecks turned out to be sharp bits of shrapnel that had embedded in his armor. A slow dribble of blood seeped from them and the bruise across the side of his head appeared to be a painful-looking goose egg. He felt just a tad bit ill looking at the poor man. There was no way Malos wasn't downplaying his injuries here.

"Hey." A playful grin grew across Malos' mouth. "I said to quit it with the looks, Mik. Especially when that nose of yours looks like a mutant fruit."

He blinked, averting his gaze quickly cupping a hand over his nose, cheeks burning. Malos meanwhile managed stifled exhales of amusements.

"You going to tell him? It's pretty plain to see how it's eating at him." Sever stated, before the moment could go too long.

The Driver's amused expression fell as he looked to his Blade with slight annoyance, before letting a long sigh out and wiping at his dirtied mouth one more time.

Mikhail's eyes travelled back from the Blade to Malos.

"Mik, look…" He chewed the inside of his mouth shaking his head begrudgingly. "Ugh... Really hate this talking crap." His expression scrunched slightly. "Neither Jin or I blames you."

The blonde tilted his head slightly confused.

"Considering that old man was harassing you, you did what you had to."

Mikhail hardened his gaze at the other man, before the small realization hit and quickly replaced itself with doubt, now unsure how sincere his words were. "Odd you'd say something so emphatic. You're not usually like this. Those Jin's words or your own?"

Malos cleared his throat again, leaning his head against the wall. "Got other things on my mind Mik."

"Any that are going to answer my question?" Mikhail tried, only to be answered with a cocked brow.

A clawed hand rested on his shoulder. "I'll take care of him from here." Sever's gravelly voice churred.

"You sure?" Mikhail looked between the Blade and its Driver.

"Just let the thing do what it wants to," Malos grumbled. "Jin's still out there, why don't you find what his hold up is?"

He regarded both one last time, slowly nodding before returning to the open hatch. Behind him he could faintly hear Sever's long talons click across the metal floor.

"Did I perform to your expectations?" Sever asked.

Mikhail paused at the entryway, silently waiting for Malos to answer.

"... Yeah. You did fine."

A smirk painted the blonde's lips for a few moments as he turned his attention out onto the deck. The rain had lessened slightly, a few soft slivers of moonlight had begun to dimly glow through pieces of the cloud cover. Jin stood stoic where they'd left him a few minutes before, gazing into the distance at something.

Once more he stepped out in the rain. He was only a few steps out for him to note the difference in the air. It wasn't just the chill brought on by the rain, but something else. Where it had been cold in part due to the rain; now, it was cold **despite** the rain.

A difference that only grew stronger the closer he drew. Short wafts of warm mist escaped and dissipated, with each breath. Jin remained still despite his obvious approaching presence.

Soon he was within arms reach of the still man. Despite the adequate padding and insulation of his uniform the warmth in his limbs waned. Even now his fingers stung as cold and numbness overtook them. Perhaps the only good thing to come out was that his nose felt less like an over inflated eggplant now.

"...Jin?" his voice just above a whisper.

The white-haired man turned his head toward him, eyes deadened behind his mask. "Mikhail?" His voice was monotone, only betrayed by a slight twist of his lip.

Mikhail swallowed nervously. "Malos is on board. Sever is taking care of him now."

Jin remained silent, crossing his arms and turning his attention back to the dark horizon.

"Um, I was just wondering…" He tried to sniff back some snot descending from his nostril, "If you were coming...?"

There was a moment as the man sighed quietly, the air around them began to warm once again, then, without a word, he swiftly walked past and back toward the Monoceros. The quiet blonde meanwhile carefully watched the man stalk back and disappear into the Monoceros.

_Jin…_

He took a step to follow only to find his foot suddenly sliding forwards. His arms flailed, legs going wide, barely able to catch himself with his hands before he fell face first into a puddle.

Having half a mind to kick whatever it was, he peered down spying something shiny in what little light he had. Crouching, he picked it up, surprised by how unexpectedly almost perfectly round it felt in the palm of his hand. His thumb experimentally rubbed the side of it, while he wandered back over to the Monoceros, the smoothness of the object grabbing his curiosity.

Soon he found the warm breath of the Monoceros and its fluorescent lights greeting him. Stopping just inside he tentatively pressed the button for the hatch. Looking about the area, he found that both Malos and Sever had vacated somewhere deeper within the ship evident by the droplets of crimson dotting the floor down the corridor, while Jin appeared to have gone his own way.

A heavy sigh escaped his lips while the hatch hissed and slowly closed behind. His legs carried him to the left towards the helm of the ship. Still he was keenly aware of the oblong object in his possession.

Entering back onto the helm, he began looking over the damage to the systems with a much finer eye. In particular the damaged control console still nagged at him. Shuffling over, he hit a button to disable the still flashing alarm lights, letting the room's cool pale blue artificial lights return.

Peering downwards into the blown console he carefully picked over the strangely undamaged wiring inside. A glinting inside drew his eye. Leaning further in he identified it as a blown power cord, its metal innards splaying outwards in various directions from the protective rubber casing surrounding it.

"Yep, that would do it." He muttered, his hand absent-mindedly rolling the smooth item over in his palm. "Must've melted the rubber which could've caused it to short circuit interrupting the current… Hmm... I'll have to check how much power is being output through these when we get back..."

**… … …**

Satisfied he'd done a full sweep of the damage to their systems, Mikhail slumped tiredly back into his chair preparing himself for what was to come. Quietly, he let a long exhale out to accompany the occasional beeps of machinery and slowing plunks of rain above.

He'd been working the object over in his hand for a while now without realizing it, nor had he even taken a close look at it. Bringing it up he discovered immediately that it was man-made judging by how it appeared bronzed and oblong in construction. Peering a little closer, he noticed some worn bits and small scratches along its surface, likely from age, barring this though it was practically undamaged and wonderfully kept.

His curiosity piqued, he turned it over in his hand. However, he could find no distinct identifying markings on it, though he did note the lack of any chain or thread looped through the eye located at the top of the object.

Perhaps it was supposed to be a simple talisman? Or some other accessory? Puzzled, Mikhail rubbed his thumb up and down its edge, enjoying its smooth texture when it suddenly clicked and opened down the middle, its two halves seeming to be connected on an internal hinge.

"Hmm?" He took the object in both his hands and, using his index finger and thumb, carefully lifted the cover.

Inside he found a photo of a middle aged Gormotti man dressed in a nicely kept dark suit. On his lap, a smaller Gormotti girl sat posed in a simple but cute off-white sundress. They were both smiling.

**Chapter 1 End**

**Departure**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go, a proper end for chapter 1! Took longer than I wanted it to, especially with all the nonsense going on right now. 
> 
> Feel free to leave any comments, thoughts, or feedback. It's always nice to see people's reactions.


End file.
